Dead Space - The Elemental Nations
by Jakespeed207
Summary: During a training trip, Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi discover a crashed spaceship. What could it possibly contain? Meanwhile, on another part of the Elemental Nations, an entity awakes from its slumber. Are the Elemental Nations prepared... to be made whole? Pairing: NaruxHinaxHanabi. Set in the month between the Chunin Exams. Rated M for gore, swearing, and possible lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there, Jakespeed207 here! This is a story that's been thrown around my brain a lot, but I finally had the time and resources to make this chapter. Now, I've actually been putting a lot of thought into this story, and I can see myself taking it far. I'm aiming to take it all the way to Dead Space 3 (you'll understand why by the end). Now, a few quick notes before you begin, and THESE ARE IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE STORY!**

**1) The Naruto in this story is a bit more respectful. I made him following the description, "Knows what respect and etiquette are, just decides not to use them due to the populace's attitude and actions".**

**2) Hinata is somewhat less shy here. I'm not completely competent in writing out a shy person, but I did my best.**

**3) Hanabi is a little more than a year younger than Naruto and Hinata in this story. Meaning, if Hinata is 13, Hanabi is between 11 and 12 years of age.**

**4) The events of the beginning of Dead Space 3 (not the prologue), when *spoiler if you haven't played DS3 yet* Danik releases the Marker of New Horizons, where Isaac lives, happen much earlier than in DS3. Say, two to three years before. This means that the time between when Isaac and Ellie parted ways and when Norton and Carver come for Isaac is a lot larger. The reason being I want to have Ellie be alive in this story, but I also want Naruto and the team to be grown by that time, and I can't quite do that with how little time there is between the breakup and the rescue mission. Does this mean I plan for Naruto to go to Tau Volantis? ... Most likely, yeah. **

**5) The descriptions of the RIGs, Suits, Tools, and Weapons come almost directly from the Dead Space Wiki. I hold no claim over them. Well, technically I hold no claim over anything but the story idea. **

**6) If you're a little confused about the ending, go to the Dead Space Wiki and read the entire description of the Black Markers. You'll get the idea then.**

**And now, ze disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own anything related to Naruto or the Dead Space franchise. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and EA and Visceral Studios, respectively. I only lay claim on the idea, and even that's a bit of a longshot.**

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

In the forests outside Konohagakure, Naruto Uzumaki, jinchūriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and finalist in the Chunin Exams, was currently cursing up a storm while sitting in the shade of a large tree. The reason? Well, why don't we let him say it.

"Kuso!" Naruto growled for the umpteenth time between gritted teeth, "What's so special about Sasuke-teme that Kakashi-sensei decided to just leave me in the dust?! I'm facing Neji fucking Hyuuga. Unless I get stronger, I've got no chance!"

Naruto wasn't stupid, no matter what he showed others. He just got too used to pretending to be so in classes. He figured that if his own teachers were going to be hateful jackasses, why wouldn't his sensei be? It seemed he was partly correct.

After another minute of grumbling, Naruto stood up, a mask of determination on his face.

"Fine then... if he doesn't want to train me, I'll do it myself! Away from this godforsaken village!"

With that, Naruto dashed out of the forests and into the village, heading straight home. There, he got his biggest, and only, backpack and packed all he could, from extra jumpsuits to instant ramen packets to soap and a toothbrush. Once the backpack was full, he then ran to the Hokage Tower, drawing odd looks along the way.

Slipping past the secretary, who was thankfully to busy to notice him (not that it would have made much difference), Naruto walked up to the Hokage's room and knocked for once in his life. Hearing the customary, "Enter" from the Hokage, Naruto slowly walked into the room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage of Konoha and known as the second God of Shinobi, was understandably troubled when he saw his pseudo-grandson Naruto Uzumaki enter his room. For one, the boy actually knocked instead of barging into the room like he usually does. For another, his face was practically expressionless, with none of his usual hyperactiveness showing through. And finally, he had a rather large backpack on, its shape suggesting it was filled to the brim.

"Naruto-kun, how can I help you today?" Hiruzen asked with his trademark grandfatherly smile.

Naruto barely smiled before responding, "Hokage-sama," and there's a fourth reason to worry the Hokage, "I want to ask you for permission to go outside of Konohagakure to take a small training trip for the Chunin Exams."

Hiruzen's shock was palpable. "Why would you want to go out of Konoha to train, Naruto-kun? Wouldn't you be able to train perfectly fine here, with Kakashi, maybe?"

Naruto's expression darkened at the mention of his sensei. "Doubtful. For starters, Kakashi-sensei is currently training Sasuke, literally telling me that he 'needs more training in order to beat Gaara', which is true, but he completely threw me to the wind despite the fact that I'm facing Neji Hyuuga, who's considered a prodigy in and out of the Hyuuga clan. I'm the dobe of my class, Hokage-sama, and I know I'll be hard pressed to beat him, especially if I don't train. Plus, it's not just me. He seems to pay a lot more attention to Sasuke than to me or Sakura-chan. Adding to that, I can't really trust anyone else to supervise my training. I don't want them to sabotage my training somehow, and I'd rather not bother you for training."

Hiruzen was left in the balance between anger and sadness. Anger at Kakashi's complete disregard of his pupil, and sadness at the fact that the populace of Konoha was still so hateful towards Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry about that. I wish these people could see the truth-"

"It's alright, jiji" Naruto cut him off softly, "I'll change their views someday, somehow. But for now, please give me this wish."

Hiruzen smiled and nodded. "Of course, Naruto-kun. However, there will be a few stipulations."

"A few stripu-what-now?" Naruto asked, face scrunched up in confusion.

"A few rules, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen chuckled, holding up one finger, "First, no traveling outside the Land of Fire. The country is big enough to begin with, and you'll find that other countries may not be very friendly towards Konoha ninja."

Naruto nodded, happily agreeing with that.

"Secondly, I expect a report of your status and whereabouts every Wednesday, understood? If I fail to receive one, I will assume that you've been captured and shall send a group to find you and bring you back."

"Understood, jiji," Naruto nodded again.

"Good," Hiruzen said, then reached inside a drawer for a travel passport and filled it out with Naruto's info, his signature, and the Hokage's seal of approval.

"Is it just going to be you on this trip, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked after handing him the passport.

Naruto was about to answer that yes, it would be, until a stray thought passed through his head.

"Actually... Is it possible you could summon Hiashi Hyuuga here, jiji?"

Despite being surprised at the request, Hiruzen nonetheless acquiesced, calling one of the guards to bring the head of the Hyuuga clan. During the waiting time, Hiruzen made sure Naruto had everything necessary for the trip, which included giving him a current map of the elemental nations.

After another minute, the guard teleported back into the office with Hiashi in tow before disappearing once again. After giving a passing glance to Naruto, he bowed and says, "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen smirked and said, "I was not the one who asked for you, Hiashi. It was Naruto-kun here."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow and turned to Naruto. "And what can I help you with, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto merely locked eyes with the man before bowing, an action that shocked the hell out of Hiruzen and the guards. In an even voice, Naruto said, "Sorry to trouble you, Hiashi-sama, but I am about to take a training trip outside of the village and I wish for your daughter Hinata to accompany me."

Hiashi studied the young man for several seconds before replying, "And why exactly would you want my daughter, the weakest of our clan, to go with you, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto responded by straightening up and locking his now steely eyes with Hiashi's. "Because, as I'm sure you know by now, I am fighting your nephew Neji in the finals. Thus, some training would be beneficial, and who better to train with than someone I already know and trust? Plus, I am sure that it would be beneficial for her as well. She's an incredible fighter, and I believe all she really needs is a confidence boost."

Hiashi actually moved closer to Naruto before saying in an unreadable voice, "And you believe that you'll be able to give her said confidence, do you, Uzumaki-san?"

"I won't know until I try," Naruto responded, glaring right back at the man, "But she responded well to my praising of her during the Preliminaries and fought as hard as she could, so I'm willing to help her with that!"

Hiashi kept his stare against Naruto's a little longer before surprising everyone and actually laughing out loud. At Naruto's incredulous look, he responded, "Fine then, I shall allow it." He moved closer to Naruto and said, in a nasty voice, "Do prepare to be disappointed," before straightening and saying, "I shall send her over to the northern gates," and finally leaving.

Naruto stood there for a few seconds before shaking his head in anger and saying, "Does Hinata-chan have a travel passport, jiji?"

Hiruzen filed Naruto's suffix use for future thought and answered, "Yes. All children of clans have them."

Naruto nodded and said, "I'll be going then. Thanks, jiji!"

With that, Naruto left, and Hiruzen was left sitting back on his chair, his anger at the populace of Konoha mounting.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Naruto stood at the northern gates, leaning against one of the huge doors. He was practicing a skill Iruka told him about, where he would focus on his chakra and spread it around him, using it as a sort of radar. The farther he could spread it, the better his control would be, while the more chakra he poured into the technique, the more details he could 'see'. Therefore, with his terrible chakra control but massive chakra reserves, he could almost count every hair on a person's head but he could hardly sense anything 10 inches around him.

Thanks to this, he could sense when someone approached him. It was a girl, perhaps a year or two younger than him. She seemed to be studying him, her face a mask of confusion and a little frustration. While he could tell she wasn't Hinata, she resembled her a little and her chakra was somewhat similar.

"Anything I can help you with?" Naruto said, startling the girl and making her move back, out of his range. He finally opened his eyes and looked up only to now notice Hinata standing there next to the girl, her blush as prevalent as her curious expression. Hinata was in her usual attire consisting of a bulky cream jacket and blue pants, with the addition of a white backpack with flowery patterns. The girl next to her had the same eyes as she did, the trademark silvery eyes of the Hyuuga, but instead of Hinata's blue hair, hers was brown and long, reaching waist level. She had on a tank top under a black vest, and was wearing matching black pants and sandals. She also had a backpack, although hers was a light blue color. She was looking at Hinata quite determinedly.

"Hello, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, straightening up and moving closer to the two.

"Ano... H-hello, N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata responded shyly, "Tou-san said t-that y-you asked f-f-for me?"

"Yes, I did," Naruto nodded, "To cut right to the chase, I'm going to take a small training trip out of the village, and I don't want to go on my own. I need training, that much is certain, and my sensei decided to train Sasuke-teme instead of me. That's why I'm asking if you'd like to come with me."

Hinata was understandably shocked, yet at the same time elated. Her crush wanted her, out of anyone else, to come with him on a training trip?

"Ano..." Hinata had to ask this, out of pure curiosity, "W-why me, N-Naruto-kun? T-there are s-so m-m-many others y-you could ask t-to go with... you..."

Naruto, noticing her go slightly deeper and deeper into her jacket with every word, walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her snap her head up to meet his eyes. Hinata was a little startled at how close he was. If she had been just half a step closer, she could have hit him with her head when she looked up.

Naruto's gaze softened as he looked at her, making her blush increase. With a small smile that she reciprocated, he said, "Hinata-chan, I chose you out of anyone else because, unlike many in this village, you're one of the only people that haven't put me down for any reason. You've always been nice to me. I chose you because I know that this trip could do both of us good, both as training and as time away from any upsetting factors. And I chose you because... I trust you."

Hinata was tearing up by the end of his explanation, which made her do something rather bold: she moved forward and hugged him tightly, smiling like a giddy schoolgirl. Naruto chuckled and hugged her back, before releasing her and saying, "Now, care to explain who's the shrimp that's trying to bore a hole into my skull with her eyes?"

There was a twin 'eep' sound from both Hinata and the girl, which was followed up with Hinata attempting to explain, "T-t-this i-i-is-"

"I'm Hanabi. Hyuuga Hanabi. Hinata's sister," the brunette interrupted.

Naruto looked at the two of them: Hinata blushing up a storm and looking down, and Hanabi looking at him determinedly but also having her own blush.

Finally, he chuckled, startling both girls, and said, "I didn't know we were having any stowaways."

Both girls blushed (or in Hinata's case, blushed even more) until he said, "I do hope you have your travel passport and necessary things in the bag, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi blushed a bit more at the suffix, but nodded nonetheless.

"Did you ask Hiashi permission to go?" Naruto asked seriously.

Hanabi grinned sheepishly and said, "Well, I left him a note..."

Naruto and Hinata both stared at her incredulously. Hanabi ignored them and continued, "He should be finding it around three... two... one..."

"HAAAAAAANAAAAAAAABIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The incredibly loud yell startled everyone in the vicinity, and forced Naruto to chuckle.

"Oh well, no time like the present, I guess. Let's go!"

Quickly showing their passports to the gate guards, the trio dashed into the woods, surprising the guards with their speed and agility.

Minutes later, a disheveled and seething Hiashi Hyuuga returned home from the Hokage Tower, promising a long month of punishments to his youngest daughter.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

It had been three days since they had left Konoha, and for Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi, it had been time well spent. They had spent the first day simply moving, aiming to get as far as they could from Konoha while keeping track of how long it would take to get back. The second day was spent on coming up with a training routine that they would follow while still moving. They had finally arrived at their destination on the third day, a few miles from the border at a point where not many patrols would pass.

Naruto walked back into camp with a dead deer on his shoulder. The two girls, having been sitting on opposite sides of the campfire they had built, looked up as he sat down, put the deer in front of him, and swiftly began to skin the animal. Mere moments later, he had a few pieces of meat hanging over the fire, slowly moving them so as to cook them well.

"You know, I'm still surprised when I see you do that so quickly," Hanabi commented.

Naruto shrugged and responded, "I hunted quite a bit as a kid, so I already know about hunting and gathering. The cooking comes from Ayame-chan and Teuchi-oji, who taught me some cooking skills when I told them I was living alone. "

Hanabi nodded while Hinata just watched the exchange. Minutes later, the food was done and the kids ate like kings and queens, bantering back and forth as Naruto and Hanabi took it upon themselves to help Hinata with her self-confidence issues.

After they ate, the three merely sat around the campfire, content smiles on their faces and expectant glints in their eyes at the training they would undergo together. The peaceful time, however, was shattered when they heard resounding boom, powerful enough to shake them all.

"Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, Byakugans on, now!" Naruto quickly ordered.

The girls quickly went through the necessary hand signs and activated their doujutsu. With the 359° view, Hinata quickly spotted the problem.

"Naruto-kun, up there!" Hinata called out stutter-free, pointing somewhere behind Naruto. The blonde turned and noticed what looked like a bright light that seemed to be getting bigger and bigger...

... and it was heading right for them!

"Move!" Naruto yelled, grabbing all three of their packs and pushing the girls to the side in one swift motion, and not a moment too soon.

As soon as they hit the ground, they could feel the earth-shaking collision between the meteor and the ground. It tossed up a lot of rocks, so Naruto quickly stood in front of the girls, punching and kicking every reachable rock away while the Hyuuga sisters kept an eye out for any other surprises.

Finally, the rumbling stopped and the three heard what sounded like another collision a number of yards away. Still shaken, Naruto helped the two girls up and handed them their bags, then walked back to where their camp had been.

Instead of a campfire and three logs around it, all that was left was a long trench that the meteorite had dug when it hit the ground. It seemed to head east, leaving a path of destruction and two toppled trees.

Naruto quickly jumped onto the nearest tree, startling the girls, and followed the path that the meteorite had left. With a twin cry of, "Naruto-kun, wait!" the girls chased after him.

What they found several yards away shocked them. Instead of the chunk of rock they had expected, there was a large metal... something leaning against a tree. The parts that weren't broken or scratched on the outside were painted blue; it had three large, hollow cylinders on its back end; and in the front they could see a large, shattered glass pane.

"W-what is it?" Hinata asked, half in fear and half in wonder.

Neither of her companions had an answer for her.

Instead, Naruto walked up slowly and looked all around the metal thing, taking note of everything he noticed. After doing two full circles, he noticed that there was an outlined rectangle on one side, like a door, but without a doorknob.

"Hey, I found something," Naruto called out. When the girls arrived, he pointed at the knob-less door. "See if you can find anything around that can open this."

"Like this, Naruto-kun?" Hanabi asked, pointing to what appeared to be a button next to the door.

Chuckling slightly, Naruto nodded. "Yes, like that, Hanabi-chan. How'd you spot it so quickly?"

In response, Hanabi simply pointed at her eyes, which still had the Byakugan activated. Naruto nodded with a small "Ah" and motioned for her to do the honors.

As soon as Hanabi pressed the button, a small hiss came from the door and it began to fall forward, falling to the ground with a crash.

"Well, that's pretty ominous," Naruto commented, making both girls sweatdrop.

Carefully approaching the entrance, Naruto flicked out a kunai from his waist pouch and held it in a reverse grip. Slowly, he stepped inside the metal thing, looking all around for any trouble. Instead, he spotted something that stopped him in his tracks.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered from right behind him. Hanabi was also approaching from his right. When they spotted what had given Naruto pause, they stopped dead in their tracks as well, and Hinata let out a small shriek.

There on the ground, looking quite dead and lying on a pool of blood, was a man. He was wearing what appeared to be an armored suit, but it looked more advanced than anything they'd seen before. What truly shocked them, however, was his face. His expression was frozen in a mix between pain, shock, and anger, and his stomach was sliced open, from which his internal organs and some small tendrils seemed to be coming out from.

Slightly to the right of the man was an upside-down... creature. It had a body shape similar to a bat, but much larger. Its skin was leathery, and the underside of its 'wings' was much darker, almost blood red. It was clearly dead, much to the relief of the two ninja and one ninja-in-training.

Before any one of them could decide what to do with the man, a bluish screen suddenly popped up above him and in front of them with a burst of static, startling the three. In it, the man was standing, his arm wrapped around his middle, where they could see a lot of blood coming out. The man seemed to be panting in effort, and when he looked up, his face was contorted in pain and converted in a sheen of sweat.

"I'll leave this for whoever finds me..." the man began, "My name is Isaac Clarke. I'm a... systems engineer from what used to be the CEC, and just recently escaped the New Horizons Lunar Colony... located on Earth's moon... There's... nothing left... I'm sure to bleed out soon... This is something... even a large med pack... can fix... but I know... the infestation hasn't... stopped. New Horizons was... overrun by... Necromorphs... before I managed to escape... The information about it... is in the database... of every suit... in the ship's store... Please... make sure... there aren't any more... outbreaks... finish the battle... and... save the galaxy... my time is done... I'm sorry... and I... love you... Ellie..."

The man suddenly collapsed, and the video finished moments later. The three young ninja simply stood there in shock.

"What..." Hanabi broke the silence, "What was that?"

Naruto shook himself out of the shock and put things together. "It seems as though there was someone living in outer space, on the moon of a planet. Some serious shit must have happened, and this Isaac had to escape from the moon. But... necromorphs... never heard of those. Have either of you?" When they shook their heads, he continued, "He sounded pretty serious when he talked about stopping the outbreak and saving the galaxy, but..."

Hanabi shook her head, "Even if it's all true, we can't actually do anything about it. There's no way we can reach the moon!"

Naruto nodded and stood, finally noticing the store that Isaac had mentioned across from him.

"Hey, check it out," Naruto called out, bringing their attention to him, "It's the store he mentioned."

Together, they crowded around the store, where Naruto, who was in the middle, reached out and pressed the EarthGov logo, which immediately changed and became a list.

**_RIGs_**

**_Tools_**

**_Weapons_**

**_Items_**

**_Database_**

**_Exit_**

Deciding to go from the beginning, as much as the Weapons section called to him, Naruto reached out and selected RIGs. The menu disappeared, and became another list, this one of every suit available in the store, with a small picture of what they looked like, and a description of what RIGs were.

**_Resource Integration Gear, or RIG for short, is an integrated health management and strength augmentation system that assists users in previously impossible and dangerous environments. RIGs monitor the lifesigns of an individual through a spine-mounted display that serves to indicate the user's general state of health, in real time, as a glowing segmented bar which depletes as the user takes damage, going from blue to green to yellow to red. When the user dies, it emits a "flat-line" sound similar to an EKG, which is loud enough to alert others within earshot of the RIG wearer's demise. Holographic projectors mounted on the wrists can create a two-dimensional display in front of the user, to display whatever they might need to see. The size of the display can vary depending upon the data it is accessing. It can also project a colored line to guide the user to a destination, be it a location or a service like a store or workbench. It is capable of two-way audio and visual communication. RIG users can be individually tracked if need-be, even if dead. Finally, RIGs can be used as a form of biometric lock, only allowing specific RIG users access to designated areas, though such scanners fail to take into account whether the user is living or dead. While civilian RIGs are nothing more than spine-mounted health displays and holographic projectors, certain professions require full-body suits, such as engineers and security guards. These suits come with armor, Kinesis and Stasis modules, an internal oxygen supply for work in vacuums, gravity boots and thrusters for work in zero gravity environments, and three dimensional maps of the area._**

**_Engineering Suits:_******

**_Standard_**

**_Elite_**

**_Forged_**

**_Hazard_**

**_Security Suits:_******

**_Standard_**

**_Elite_**

**_Patrol_**

**_Arctic_**

**_Soldier_**

**_Zealot_**

**_Riot_**

**_Prima_**

**_EarthGov_**

**_Triage_**

**_Vintage Suits: _**

**_Standard_**

**_Elite_**

**_Bloody_**

**_Heavy-duty_**

**_Advanced Suits:_**

**_Standard_**

**_Elite_**

**_Agility_**

**_Shockpoint_**

**_All suits regain the highest amount of armor and inventory slots. Armor: 25%; Inventory Slots: 25._**

After reading through the description of what RIGs are, and the amount of suits stored on the ship, Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi were shocked. Suits that could track the health of a person and had armor as well? And was that video of Isaac a "holographic projection"?

After glancing at each other, Naruto went back to the previous menu and selected the next option: Tools.

**_211-V Plasma Cutter_**

**_The 211-V Plasma Cutter, also referred to as the "Plasma Cutter" or simply "the Cutter" is a hand-portable mineral cutter manufactured by Schofield Tools. The Plasma Cutter is one of the miner's primary tools of the trade, offering unrivaled reliability in even the most hostile of work environments. Despite its name, this tool does not rely solely on plasma energy. Almost any type of energy can be used with the Cutter, as long as it is inserted in a compacted package or as a continuous stream._**

**_Amount in safe: 5 cutters._**

**_IM-822 Handheld Ore Cutter Line Gun_**

**_The Line Gun is a wide-beamed slicer with timed mines. This "gun" fires a horizontal beam of energy, and, like the Plasma Cutter, it is used for cutting down rocks and ore to smaller sizes, though it is designed for more heavy duty ore that the Plasma Cutter cannot cut through. Also like the Plasma Cutter, it can function with another type of energy, although much more would be needed. The Line Gun can release its ammo as a timed mine, which explodes in a shower of lasers, cutting through anything nearby._**

**_Amount in store: 2 guns._**

**_RC-DS Remote Control Disc Ripper_**

**_Designed to cut and hack through solid rock, the Remote Control Disc Ripper, more commonly known as the Ripper, is an extremely dangerous tool. In unskilled hands, it's an accident waiting to happen, ejecting incredibly sharp, diamond-coated tungsten blades at up to 17,000 rotations per minute (RPM) to cut through anything in front of it. The blade is attached to a miniature gravity tether. The Ripper's primary function launches a sawblade that hovers in front of the tool for a total of thirty seconds, while the secondary function ejects an un-tethered saw disc at high speed._**

**_Amount in store: 3_**

**_PMF-100 Hydrazine Torch_**

**_The PFM-100 Hydrazine Torch Flamethrower, or Flamethrower for short, is an industrial tool used in the extraction of various ores and minerals during mining operations. It was originally designed to project a liquid hydrazine flame of 500 to 4,000 degrees Celsius onto the layers of ice that trapped valuable ores within comets. When used against frozen meteors, the flame will cause the solidified water within the meteor's cracks to melt, splitting the rock into pieces without much trouble._**

**_Amount in store: 2 torches_**

**_Handheld Graviton Accelerator_**

**_The Handheld Graviton Accelerator, commonly referred to as the Force Gun, is a short-range kinetic booster device. Its function in mining operations is to provide blasting power beyond conventional explosive charges, thus making it suitable for precise terraforming applications. Some practical examples may include shattering rocks into smaller rocks, sending rocks between miners in zero-gravity situations, or deflecting wayward rocks away from miners during space operations. Its secondary function releases a short beam of kinetic energy that has a small charge time._**

**_Amount in store: 1 accelerator_**

**_C99 Supercollider Contact Beam_**

**_A heavy-duty energy pulse device, the Contact Beam is used for commercial destruction where a powerful but focused explosive force is needed. The primary fire is immensely powerful but requires a short charging time. The secondary fire delivers a ground clearing-blast around the user. Like the Plasma Cutter, it can function with a secondary source of energy._**

**_Amount in store: 1 beam_**

The three kids were once again shocked at the tools and their descriptions. These things sounded really powerful. Without further ado, Naruto went back and selected Weapons.

**_SWS Motorized Pulse Rifle_**

**_The SWS Motorized Pulse Rifle is a military-grade, triple-barreled assault rifle with a rapid rate of fire and large magazine ammunition capacity. The Pulse Rifle is the standard-issue service rifle of the Earth Defense Force, and is also common among federal security forces, corporate security officers, and civilians. _**

**_Amount in store: 4 rifles_**

**_Detonator_**

**_The Detonator is a weapon that deploys laser tripmines that sticks onto any flat surface, be it a floor, wall, or ceiling. If the laser sensors are disrupted, the set mines will detonate violently. The secondary function allows one to deactivate deployed mines to be reused._**

**_Amount in store: 2 Detonators_**

**_Seeker Rifle_**

**_The Seeker Rifle is a riot control device that is meant for accuracy at long-range. It packs a punch but is slow to reload. Zoom in with the scope for even greater damage._**

It was just as they finished reading this that Naruto suddenly realized that they were still in the ship, and quite some time had passed. He quickly moved back and said, "As interesting as this is, we need to get moving! This thing made a lot of noise when it crashed and I'm surprised no one's come by to check on it yet!"

"Naruto-kun... i-it's the middle o-of the n-night," Hinata reasoned.

"And we aren't that close to the border," Hanabi followed up.

Naruto put a hand on his chin and thought for a moment. Finally, he said, "Yeah, guess you're right. But still, we should get moving before some patrol passes by. Who knows what they might say or do. This Isaac guy said he left the ship and everything in it to whoever finds it, and that was us three."

The two girls nodded. Together, they talked a bit about what to do before it was decided to get everything from the Store and store it in a couple of storage scrolls both Hinata and Hanabi had brought with them just in case.

"We should also take Isaac's body and give it a proper burial," Naruto reasoned, to which both girls agreed to. After thinking the plan through a bit more, Naruto decided that they should each keep one of the suits on themselves. According to the store they had a lot of armor and could track health, which would prove very useful.

Naruto went first, quickly looking through the options before selecting the Elite Advanced Suit. The screen folded inward and up and a door behind it opened suddenly. Naruto could see a human-sized opening where he could comfortably stand, so he moved forward and carefully leaned back against it.

Suddenly, something closed around his wrists, ankles, and torso, holding him in place. With a startled yelp that the girls reciprocated, the doors closed and a blinding light made him shut his eyes.

"Naruto-kun!" both Hyuuga cried out as the doors closed. Hanabi, being the more impulsive one, was about to jump forward and beat the crap out of the doors until they opened, but Hinata's raised hand stopped her. They watched as a bright light slowly moved down, going from the ceiling and reaching the floor, before disappearing. Moments later, the doors opened again, and Naruto stepped out.

The girls, especially Hinata, nearly fainted in both shock and awe. Instead of his orange jumpsuit, Naruto was wearing an all-black suit which looked to be made of stretchy material. The material itself, however, was hardly viewable due to all of the black, white, and mostly silver tinted armor that was covering Naruto's entire body. The girls, ever observant, noticed a somewhat conical-shaped protrusion coming out of the suit's upper chest area, which had a small screen that was constantly showing information; two different objects attached to the left wrist; and, as Naruto stretched his shoulders, three small, spoon-like things that lifted from his back with the sound of rushing air. Finally, Naruto finished stretching, and looked at himself.

"Man..." Naruto commented, "This thing feels heavy but it's also really comfortable! It might not be orange, but damn, I won't lie and say it isn't freaking awesome!"

Hinata had to giggle at Naruto's reaction to the suit. She watched as he looked at himself a bit more before standing still when two separate metal parts came out from both the front (inside the frontal protrusion of the suit) and the back (the top of the health bar). It proved to be many pieces stacked together, which stopped at Naruto's chin and the nape of his neck before spreading out and coming together to become a full helmet. The helmet was round in the back but came to a pointed vertical line in the front. It had three horizontal openings for sight and emitted an orange light, both of which made the girls wonder how in Kami's name he could see anything.

"This is fantastic!" Naruto called out, checking himself out on one of the reflective surfaces around them, "The light from the helmet is even orange! Awesome!"

Both girls ended up giggling at Naruto's antics this time, which made him focus back on them. "Alright, ladies," Naruto said, "You're up! Hanabi, you go first!"

"What?!" Hanabi yelped, "Why me?!"

Naruto shrugged, "Why not you? Come on, we're wasting moonlight!"

Hanabi huffed in annoyance but made her way to the store anyways, the screen of which had already unfolded and was showing the menu again. Scrolling over the choices, Hanabi decided to go for the Elite Security Suit. The screen once again folded up and the door behind it opened. Hanabi threw an uncertain glance towards the other two. Hinata looked just as uncertain, but it was hard to tell Naruto's emotions due to the helmet. As if to placate her, Naruto gave her a thumbs-up and motioned for her to go for it. With a determined nod, Hanabi carefully made her way inside and leaned back on the cushion.

Immediately, the same straps that had held Naruto down strapped across Hanabi's wrists, ankles, and torso. The door closed again and the bright light from before traveled down from top to bottom. Hinata looked a bit apprehensive, but a hand on her shoulder from Naruto calmed her slightly.

After two seconds of inactivity, the doors opened with a hiss and Hanabi stumbled out. The suit she was wearing was similar to Naruto's, but it was a bit more basic and round, and the armor pieces were mostly a metallic grey, with some parts around the neck and wrists having a checkerboard pattern painted onto them. On her left bicep, a thick piece of armor had the words S.W.A.T. printed on them while "1002" was printed on the other arm. Her hair, being much longer than Naruto's or Hinata's, was actually stuffed inside the suit when it was put over her clothes, but she didn't seem to mind. Finally, at Naruto's instruction, she kept her head still as the segmented helmet pieces popped out from the front and the back of the suit and came together to form the helmet itself. The helmet was rounder than Naruto's and had a thick piece of armor on the forehead, which had a painted checkerboard pattern like most of the armor. The light coming from the two wide visors of the helmet was a light brown.

"Wow..." Hanabi commented, stretching slightly, "This is amazing... I would have thought, with so much armor, it would feel really bulky, but it doesn't feel that way at all."

"I know, right?" Naruto said, grinning under his helmet. He turned to the last member of the trio and said, "Well, Hinata, you're up."

Hinata nodded shyly and approached the store, quickly reading over the choices. In the end, she decided to go for the Agility Advanced Suit, since she was a very flexible person. The process of putting the suit on was the same as it was for the other two, and when the doors opened and Hinata stepped out, Naruto had to look away for a moment.

Simply put, the Agility Advanced Suit fit on Hinata like a glove. Despite the fact that it was just a recolored version of the original Advanced Suit, like Naruto's, it went well with her developing figure, and with Naruto being a prepubescent teen who had already read his fair share of adult magazines he found around the neighborhood... well, you get the point.

Both Naruto and Hanabi watched as Hinata stretched, turning in ways that neither of them could with their suits, though this was understandable if hers was really meant for agility. After getting used to the suit, Hinata stood still as the helmet assembled around her just like Naruto's had. Instead of orange, however, the light coming from the slits of the helmet was a lavender color, which didn't clash too badly with the suit itself.

"Alright, I think it's time to start taking things out of there," Naruto commented, with the girls agreeing. They quickly brought out the four storage scrolls the girls had brought, with Naruto once again praising them for their foresight, and lined them up.

They'd go as such: Naruto would use a shadow clone to take out the other suits, and then Hanabi would grab them and store them once the clones took the suit off or dispelled. For the tools and weapons, Naruto would simply hand them to Hinata, who would store them in two separate scrolls. The items he would give to Hanabi, who would use the last scroll for it. The database would be downloaded to their RIGs, so there wasn't any need to do anything with it.

Naruto quickly began, starting off from the top with the original Engineering Suit. As the clone stepped out, Naruto had to admire how he would look in it. Soon, however, a problem arose: how to take off the suit. He didn't want the clone to pop yet, lest the suit disappear as well. Finally, however, they spotted a section of the suit near the side which could be opened. The clone quickly climbed out of the suit and allowed Hanabi to store it before selecting the next suit and stepping inside.

The process continued until they reached the Advanced Suits, which seemed to have no openings to exploit. In the end, Naruto decided to tell the clone to disappear, which it did. To their slight surprise, the clone turned into smoke but the suit itself remained, merely flopping to the ground. Right then, however, all of them could hear a buzz right before a continuous noise erupted from the suit. Realizing that this was the noise that the RIGs made whenever someone died, Hanabi quickly stored it to stop the sound.

Once the suits were safely stored, Naruto moved on to the tools, studying each one as it came out before passing them on to Hinata, who would carefully store them. He really wanted to try some of them, but he knew that he would need some serious training for him to be any good. The weapons were the same story.

When he got to the items, however, he stopped and gaped at the amount of things stored in the... well, store. There were at least a hundred rounds of each kind of ammunition, with the exception of the ones for the Pulse Rifle, whose packs came in a hundred bullets each and of which there were several. Each tool or weapon had a certain maximum amount to a pack: 25 rounds for Plasma Energy; 6 rounds for Line Racks; 50 rounds for hydrazine fuel; 8 Ripper blades per full pack; 25 rounds for Force Energy; 6 rounds for Contract Energy; 100 Pulse Rounds per pack; 15 for Seeker Shells; 10 for javelins; and 8 for Detonator Mines. Isaac had also been very meticulous with the amount of packs he got of each ammo type, getting ten packs of everything. This brought a total of 250 rounds of plasma energy, 60 Line Racks, 500 rounds of Hydrazine Fuel, 80 Ripper Blades, 250 rounds of Force Energy, 60 rounds of Contact Energy (the most expensive ammo that Naruto had seen out of everything else), a whopping 1000 Pulse Rounds, 150 Seeker Shells, 100 Javelins, and 80 Detonator Mines. And ammo wasn't the only thing, as there were fifteen Large Med Packs, twenty Medium ones, thirty Small ones, and five Stasis Recharges.

All of this Naruto passed to Hanabi, who needed Hinata's help to seal it all. In the end, they had run out of space on that sealing scroll and had to use some of the leftover space on the Weapons one. But it was done.

The last thing left was the Database. Naruto decided to skip reading it for now and merely looked at the instructions on how to download it to their RIGs. According to it, they needed to connect their RIGlinks to the store itself to download whatever the store contained in terms of data. He relayed the info to the girls, and they all quickly found how to activate the hologram for the RIGlink. Naruto studied it for a moment, noticing it kept track of the inventory he had, as well as any current missions. It also seemed to have a map, though the map was currently blank as the databank of his suit had no data on the Elemental Nations. Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi quickly connected their RIGs to the store and watched as the data was stored in their RIGs for future use.

Finally, Naruto exited the store and watched as it became the EarthGov logo once again. He turned to the girls and helped them pack up, then looked at Isaac's body.

"Well, come on," Naruto motioned, "Let's pick this guy up. I'll grab him from the top, you two grab the legs."

The Hyuuga sisters nodded and went with Naruto to grab him. However, as soon as Naruto touched Isaac's head, a powerful spark of energy jumped from the corpse and hit Naruto's forehead. The attack made Naruto fall back with a scream. Hinata and Hanabi quickly went to help him, but froze upon seeing Naruto.

The boy was thrashing on the floor as if he were in excruciating pain, clutching his head and screaming to the heavens. He rolled from side to side, and his helmet's light changed from orange to red for a few moments before going back to orange.

_Inside Naruto's mindscape…_

**A dark entity, locked behind large, golden gates, opened a red, slitted eye. It had sensed the disturbance that had just gone on in Naruto's mind, but when it actually looked, it was frozen in surprise.**

**Instead of the dank and dreary sewer that the large beast was now accustomed to, the landscape had changed to become something even worse. The cage the beast was in seemed to be on top of a rocky, floating platform, underneath which there was nothing more than an endless abyss. Looking up, the beast could see red, rolling clouds, which were moving quickly past, as though there was a strong wind blowing. Finally, when it looked forward, it noticed that the platform seemed to be circular in shape and past the platform, as if floating on the abyss itself, was a large… construct. It seemed to be a twisting tower of some sort, whose two tips turned and touched at the top. It was black in color, with red sections that twisted around it like arteries. It was spinning at a slow pace, but gradually picked up speed until it emitted a powerful energy wave that rocked everything around it. The beast itself had to hold on to the bars of its cage so as to not be thrown back. **

**Finally, the wave disappeared, but the construct and the mindscape around the cage remained the same. The beast was utterly confused at this change, its nine tails twisting and turning, as if waiting for something else to happen. When nothing else did, however, it laid back down and merely continued to watch the construct, wondering about the strange occurrence that had just happened.**

_Back on the outside world…_

Hinata and Hanabi had just managed to hold Naruto down long enough to get him to hold still, but his screaming had not stopped. At that moment, a powerful wave of energy erupted from Naruto himself, which blew both girls back and made them roll for a bit before they crashed onto the wall of the spaceship.

Hinata stood up, rubbing the back of her helmet where her head was most sore. She was glad she had the suit; otherwise that blast could have caused a lot more damage. She looked to the side and noticed that Hanabi was leaning against the wall, her hand on the side of her head. Together, they looked at Naruto, who was now laying calmly on the floor, most likely unconscious. Both Hinata and Hanabi knew that, even with the strength enhancement of the suits they were wearing, they weren't strong enough to pick up both Naruto and Isaac, so they merely dragged Naruto into a more comfortable position and sat on both sides of him, patiently waiting until he awoke.

_In another part of the Elemental Nations, near Kumogakure no Sato…_

A rumbling noise erupted from the seabed of the Crashing Waves Coast, drawing the attention of several sentries. It seemed to be merely a small earthquake, but a team was sent to investigate anyways. As the investigating team approached the coast, none heard the small, demonic whisper that sounded in the back of their heads…

_It is time…_

**_To be made whole…_**

**To be continued…**

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**And that's a wrap! I'll see about continuing the story. Until then, this is Jakespeed207, signing off!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer is on chapter 1.**

"ONEECHAN!"

It was this scream that tore Hinata from her slumber. She hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep, but the moment she looked up, she sincerely hoped she was still dreaming and that this was merely a nightmare.

Right in the middle of the ship, the giant bat-like creature that had previously been dead was now very much alive. It had shot out some kind of long probe from its mouth and had hooked onto Isaac's corpse. She nearly puked when the creature latched onto the body with its small talons and stabbed the probe deep inside Isaac's forehead with a sickening squelch. It seemed to move side to side in order to move the probe a bit deeper, and whatever it was injecting into Isaac was causing a reaction that left her mouth open in a silent scream.

Isaac's skin started breaking apart, the arteries and veins underneath either molding together into a single mass or breaking as well and hanging limp. His lower jaw began to get dark and bloody, the skin ripping and showing his internal organs in all their glory. The back of his suit ripped open, allowing for two long arms to rip out from Isaac's back. The arms were slightly deformed, and on each of the palms there was a long blade sticking out, looking perfect for slashing anything to pieces. Isaac's original arms seemed to fuse to his torso, leaving only two small hands near where the stomach would normally be. Finally, his chest ripped open with a sickening crack, exposing his ribcage and an empty space where his inner organs would normally be.

The transformation took no more than a few seconds, but they were very long seconds to the two Hyuuga, who had never seen anything like this before. It was only when the creature that had changed Isaac and the creature Isaac had become turned to look at Hanabi and Hinata, respectively, that Hinata's throat opened up and she released a loud scream, one that was followed up by Hanabi's own scream. The two creatures, as if reacting to the noises, charged at both girls, the infector jumping at Hanabi while the infected lunged at Hinata, blades swinging wildly. Both girls closed their eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

However, instead of hearing (or feeling) either of them being cut or stabbed, what they heard were twin poofs of smoke before a number of small explosions rang out all around them, each explosion being followed by a squelch and a ripping sound. Both girls instantly opened their eyes and gasped at the scene.

The infector that had jumped towards Hanabi was now lying on the ground at her feet in a pool of yellow liquid. One of its wings had been ripped from its body in a clean cut, and its proboscis had been separated from the appendage with a similar cut.

The creature that had been charging at Hinata was in a similar state. The only thing left lying at Hinata's feet was a torso connected to a pair of legs. The head and arms had been completely cut off, all three lying in different places around Hinata.

Both girls stared at the broken bodies before noticing that each one had three small blue points hovering over them. Following the points up to the source led their eyes to a scene that had them gaping.

Standing tall and focused, with a Plasma Cutter in each hand pointed at both of the now truly dead monsters, was Naruto! His black and silver armor shone slightly in the little bit of light inside the ship, and the orange light coming from his helmet only served to increase his badass aura. It seemed he had awoken in all the commotion, and his first instinct had been to unseal the Plasma Cutters and open fire on the two creatures.

Naruto slowly lowered the weapons as the girls stood shakily. Hinata was the first to move, rushing forward and grabbing Naruto in a tight hug. In response, Naruto merely clipped both Plasma Cutters to each side of his suit and put both arms around her, hugging her back. He felt her start to sob against him and hugged her tighter. He understood the reason for her crying. He would normally have had the same reaction if faced with a bloody monster rushing towards him with the intent to slice him to pieces, and with Hinata being so shy and having never seen something like this before, her shock was prevalent.

Naruto then remembered their third group member and looked up to see Hanabi seemingly looking at them. While it was nigh impossible to discern her facial expression due to her helmet, the shaking of her body gave out all the info Naruto needed. He took his left arm off Hinata's shoulder and opened it wide, silently asking the unneeded question. Hanabi hesitated only for a moment before walking forward and tightly hugging Naruto as well. Naruto put his left arm around her shoulder and simply held her there.

After a few minutes, both girls seemed to have run out of steam and tears, and were now just hugging Naruto. The blonde reached down and pressed a button on both girls' right wrists, retracting their helmets. He then retracted his own, shocking Hinata and Hanabi with his countenance. The bright spark that was normally in the boy's eyes was very subdued. Instead, Naruto's eyes had a look in them similar to someone who's seen and lived through a lot. Now that they truly focused on him, they noticed that his stance was also more guarded and straight, and when he spoke, his voice sounded slightly deeper and with much more maturity than he had before.

"Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, listen to me," he spoke, "I understand that this was a shocking experience, but you need to put it aside for now. We need to get away from here and get more powerful. I can't explain why, but I have a serious sense of foreboding. Something big is coming, I know it." Both girls nodded and looked down. Naruto frowned at this and put a hand on their chins, lifting their faces so he could look at them properly. "This was something nobody should have ever experienced, but as ninja, we'll most likely have to do worse. I didn't mean for you to completely ignore this event, but don't allow it to rule your life. Remember, anything you need to talk about, I'll always be here, and we have three more weeks before we need to get back to the village. Let's put them to good use, alright?" Both girls nodded again, this time with more determination. Naruto smiled and straightened once again, turning to look at the two creatures. By a single glance, he suddenly knew what they were, but didn't understand how he knew. He had never seen these things in his life.

But he somehow knew... these were necromorphs.

Shaking his head, Naruto grabbed the sealing scroll meant for the tools and stored both bodies. He'd bring them to the Hokage and ask him to analyze them. He didn't know why, but he could feel, deep in his mind, that something serious was happening, and he had a bad feeling that he'd probably be in the middle of it all.

After picking up the rest of the sealing scrolls and putting them inside both Hinata's and Hanabi's bags, he picked up his own and took out an object he'd hoped not to have to use for a long time. He quickly turned and slapped the piece of paper onto the floor of the ship, filling it with a bit of chakra.

"What's that, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, surprisingly stutter free.

"A super strength explosive tag," Naruto replied. "I'd hoped to use it on something else, but I guess I can always save up and buy another one."

"Wait, what?!" Hanabi exclaimed, "You're planning to blow the ship up?!"

"Of course," Naruto said, standing back up, "It would take far too long to disassemble, and we have no way to carry the pieces. Besides, if we ever need one," He tapped the side of his head with a finger, "I can always build it."

"How?" Hanabi asked skeptically.

"To be honest, I have no clue how I know. I just do," Naruto said truthfully.

Hinata thought for a moment before saying, "Naruto-kun, do you think all of this might have been caused by that energy that hit you? The energy that came from Isaac?"

Naruto nodded and replied, "Yeah that was my first hypothesis. It seems to be the most likely option, since I didn't know squat about how to fight necromorphs, or about mathematics and engineering, or about how to build a spaceship before I touched Isaac."

"What's engineering?" both girls asked simultaneously.

Naruto chuckled and said, "I'll explain later."

With that, they picked up their bags and walked out of the ship. Naruto looked at the door that was laying on the floor and subconsciously extended his left hand. With a twitch of his fingers, an indigo blue camp of energy left his palm and surrounded the door, which rose from the ground and simply floated near Naruto, hovering about a foot in front of his outstretched palm. Experimentally, Naruto twisted his hand a bit and the door turned in that direction, moving as if it were in zero gravity. Nodding, Naruto moved the door to its rightful place and turned it so that it would hold there, at least until the tag exploded. He pressed his thumb against his palm and deactivated the Kinesis, which left the door just leaning against the frame.

Naruto turned back around so they could go and noticed that both girls were staring at him strangely. Chuckling a little, Naruto explained, "That's called Kinesis. It's a field of energy that's emitted from this thing ***points to a rectangular object on his left wrist, which they also have*** which is called a Kinesis module. The energy grabs whatever you're aiming for and holds it in an antigravity field, letting you move it back and forth easily. Simply, it turns off the gravity of whatever object you grab."

When the girls nodded, Naruto continued, "Now, I'll show you the first thing you're going to learn." Without a word, Naruto focused his chakra, shocking both girls when the thrusters on the boots of his suit activated and allowed him to hover in front of them.

"Naruto-kun, you're flying!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Not quite yet, Hinata-chan," Naruto chuckled, deactivating the thrusters and landing back on the ground. "Now, on the boots of every suit that we stored are thrusters. These are meant to help whoever is wearing it move around in a zero gravity area. When a regular setting, the power source of the suit gives the thrusters enough energy to allow someone to hover. For example, if someone were falling from a large height, he could activate the thrusters and slow down his descent enough to land safely on the ground. With me so far?" The girls nodded. "Good. Now, these suits weren't made with us ninja in mind. The thing about us is that we use chakra for nearly everything. Our bodies are always creating and using chakra. Because of this, we can focus chakra into the suit itself, more specifically the thrusters, and give it much more boost, which would theoretically allow us to fly."

The girls nodded, eager to try it out.

"Hinata, why don't you try it first?" Naruto said, "Focus your chakra into the suit and then direct it to your feet."

Hinata nodded resolutely and closed her eyes to focus. When she was ready, she nodded, so Naruto instructed her to activate the thrusters whenever she was ready. A few moments later, Hinata did so and began floating, slowly moving up.

Hinata felt the air moving around her, and figured it was working, so she continued to pour chakra into the thrusters, going farther up.

Naruto, however, noticed she wasn't stopping. She just kept going higher and higher!

"Hinata-chan, lower the energy output! You're flying too far up!"

This only made Hinata open her eyes immediately, and when she noticed she was floating near the treetops, she freaked out slightly and bent forward. Unfortunately, with the thrusters still being active, she quickly lost control of her flight and spun out of control, headed straight for the ground!

Hinata closed her eyes, bracing herself for the crash and not even thinking of reassembling her helmet. However, Naruto quickly jumped and activated his thrusters in midair, catching the heiress just in time. He floated down and landed softly before putting Hinata down. He then signaled for Hanabi to join them.

"Now, you saw how Hinata did it, Hanabi?" When the younger Hyuuga nodded, Naruto said, "I want both of you to work on that for now. Simply try to hover as evenly as you can. Once you have that down to pat, we'll move on."

Thus, Naruto and one of his shadow clones kept an eye over the two. Hinata actually got it minutes before Hanabi did, quickly understanding how much chakra she should expend to maintain a height of about three feet. Hanabi followed her sister's approach, adding a little more chakra every so often to reach her optimal height. Naruto was thankful that neither spun out of control (again, in Hinata's case).

"Alright," Naruto clapped his hands an hour later, "Now that you have that down, we need to move on to the next phase: moving in midair." Both girls looked excited to learn this, which brought a smile to Naruto's face. "This is relatively simple. To move at a slow pace, you simply need to lean forward a little while moving the thrusters back slightly as well. Make sure that you don't overdo it or you might end up flipping over or crashing headfirst into a tree."

This part actually took less time than the floating. Being daughters of the Hyuuga clan head, both girls had been taught how to exert maximum control over their bodies so as to not waste a movement during a battle. Thus, they were quickly able to find the point where they could safely move at a simple pace. In about half an hour, the girls were already doing lazy circles around the spaceship.

Naruto called them back for the final phase of the training. "You girls catch on quick," Naruto commented, making both girls beam in pride, "but now it's time for the final step: high-speed flying. And for this," the boy activated his thrusters, floating up to their level, "we're going farther up. Follow me!"

With that, he pumped more chakra and flew up and over the treetops. Hinata and Hanabi glanced at each other before quickly following. They found the blonde floating lazily several feet from the highest tree, which was already nearly a hundred feet in height. Both girls had to force themselves to not look down, lest they end up freaking out due to the height.

"Now, I believe a quick demonstration would be a good way to start this part. Watch me closely," Naruto said, turning so that he was facing sideways from their point of view. He brought his legs slightly up, as if crouching in midair, before pumping a large amount of chakra into the thrusters and simultaneously moving his torso forward so that he was nearly horizontal. The result was that he blasted away from the Hyuuga sisters at a fast pace, startling them. He got about half a mile away before stopping and coming back, this time slower so that they could have more time to study his movements and pose. When he did a third fly-by, the girls were already trying out their own versions. Hinata once again got it first, although Hanabi didn't seem put out by it considering she was literally flying circles around the two, making them laugh with her constant cries of joy.

By this time, the sun was starting to rise. When Naruto turned to regard it, however, a massive rumbling noise erupted from his stomach, drawing the attention of the girls. Naruto merely laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, drawing giggles from the girls.

"You think we should stop for a quick bite to eat, Naruto-kun?" Hanabi asked teasingly.

Naruto laughed and nodded, quickly floating down to the ground and setting up a small campfire next to the ship. When the girls joined him, he already had a few pieces of deer set up over it. And minutes later, three full-bellied kids were sitting around a dying fire, once again talking about this and that.

If there was one thing that both girls noticed instantly, it was the change in Naruto. He was now more knowledgeable and logical, thinking things through before saying them. He seemed to have an answer for nearly every question they had. And he still maintained his guarded posture. They noticed how he looked around every so often, as if searching for any enemies, and kept his right hand near the corresponding Plasma Cutter at all times.

When they had finished digesting the food, Naruto decided they should get moving. After checking over their supplies one last time, the three of them donned their helmets and took off, flying as far away as they could. Once they were far enough, Naruto activated the explosive tag.

With a loud boom, the tag detonated, sending smoke and shrapnel flying everywhere. Naruto had to move to the side so as to avoid getting clipped by a piece of debris. The force of the wind that was displaced by the explosion pushed all three kids back a bit, but they managed to remain airborne and in control.

After a few moments, Naruto checked over the explosion site and made sure nothing remained. Besides the scorched earth and the few pieces of small debris, nothing was left. Nodding in acceptance, Naruto flew back up to the girls and they flew away from the site, just missing a group of Konoha ninja that had arrived to investigate.

With Hanabi keeping an eye on the map, Naruto grabbed one of the Plasma Cutters from his belt and lifted it up so they could see it properly.

"Listen up, girls, because from now on, your training starts! We'll start of by teaching you on how to use Plasma Cutter..."

**0o0o0o0o0o0 ****_Time Skip – Three Weeks _****0o0o0o0o0o0**

It was finally the day for the Chunin Exam Finals!

The atmosphere in the stadium was one of excitement and wonder. Dignitaries of neighboring small villages, and both ninja and civilians from Konoha itself were more than curious about the new batch of Chunin-to-be.

In one part of the stadium, the few of the soon-to-be-known-as the Konoha 12 who didn't pass the preliminaries were sitting together with their sensei. Tenten, the female member of Team Gai, was merely watching the arena while keeping an open ear. Ino and Sakura, sitting on either side of Choji, were arguing loudly about none other than Sasuke. Poor Choji was caught in the crossfire and was simply glad he had his chips with him. A row in front of them, Kiba Inuzuka was talking in a low voice with his partner Akamaru. The shaggy haired boy was worried about the fact that Hinata hadn't arrived, despite the fact that she had assured him after the Preliminaries that she'd come to watch. She was never one to be late. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her at all in the month between the Prelims and the Finals. Kurenai-sensei hadn't said anything on the matter, so he had put it to the side for now.

Speaking of his sensei, she was currently sitting a row behind the arguing pinkette and blonde, staring in disbelief at a certain silver-haired pervert. She wasn't alone in that regard, as her current love interest and sensei of Team 10 Asuma Sarutobi was also gaping at Kakashi.

"Kakashi…" Kurenai started, "Are you… actually on time for once?"

Kakashi brought his face out of his book and regarded them with an eye-smile. "Well, cute little Sasuke-kun down there had enough experience with my tardiness that he decided to take the reins of the time and insisted that we come now."

Asuma grunted and pulled out a cigarette, quickly lighting it with his favorite lighter in one smooth move. Kurenai shook her head at the two, disgusted at their obsessions. One to smoking, the other to porn. Without another word, she turned back to the arena, studying the upcoming Chunnin.

Down at the aforementioned arena, the Genin were standing in a straight line. Neji was the first at the right end, followed by Shikamaru, Shino, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and finally Sasuke. The only two missing were Dosu Kinuta of Kusagakure and Konoha's own Naruto Uzumaki.

Once the time came, the Hokage stood and called for silence, gaining it almost immediately. He went on to praise the contestants for their skills and their determination to have made it this far, then wasted no time and started the tournament, earning a large amount of cheers.

Down at the arena, the new proctor Genma Shiranui called for silence and explained, "There are rough battles ahead of you kids. Make sure to persevere and think fast but clearly. What I say goes, so if I call the match, you _will _stop, understood?" There were nods all around. "Good. Now, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga, stay here. The rest can go up to the contestants' balcony."

A few Shunshin jutsu and a shuffling of feet were the responses. Neji merely stood to one side of Genma, waiting for his opponent.

Half a minute passed, however, and there was still no sign of the blonde. Neji was now sneering and proclaiming that the dobe had realized that fate had already decreed him as the winner. Genma secretly wanted to slap the living daylights out of the arrogant Hyuuga, but restrained himself and merely kept counting down.

Just as he was about to declare Naruto as a forfeit, there was a resounding boom across the sky as something started falling towards the arena. Most people had looked and were now pointing at it, drawing everyone else's attention to it as well. The small dot quickly gained shape, and almost everyone noticed that it appeared human in shape and size.

Whatever it was, it suddenly began moving and twisted in midair so that it was right-side up again. Everyone watched in wonder and shock as two large flames blasted from its feet, slowing its descent significantly. The fires turned off a few feet from the ground, allowing the figure to land in a crouch with a loud slam and a small explosion of dust.

Everyone held their breath as the dust slowly disappeared. When it did, gasps rang out through the crowd. The figure was indeed humanoid, but rather short, as if it were a teenager. It was covered in black, silver, and white armor, which was worn over a full body black suit. It had several metal things attached to its feet, ankles, and wrists, and a half-conical protrusion on the chest. But the most interesting and most shocking was the head. It was round at the back but came to a point at the front, and had three long, horizontal slits that glowed with a dark orange light.

Just as the ANBU were getting ready to intercept the strange… _thing_... it spoke, and its voice sounded eerily familiar.

"Hey, I'm not late, am I?"

Genma, being one of the first to come down from his shock, kept a hand near one of his kunai and asked, "And… who... or what... are you, exactly?"

The figure seemed to look down for a bit before chuckling and pressing something on its wrist. Two metal hooks emerged from the front and back of the suit and began disassembling the helmet piece by piece while the figure said, "I figured no one would recognize me due to the suit, but my voice hasn't changed _that _much, has it?"

As the helmet came fully undone and sealed itself inside the suit, everyone around him had their systems forcefully rebooted at the sight of the familiar blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned complexion, and whisker birthmarks.

Naruto Uzumaki was back in Konoha.

**0o0o0o0o0o0 ****_a few hundred yards away… _****0o0o0o0o0o0**

A growling Hanabi Hyuuga was flying as fast as she could towards Konoha, being closely followed by her sister Hinata.

"I'm gonna kill that moron!" Hanabi exclaimed, "How could he just leave us behind like that?!"

Hinata sped up slightly so that she was right next to Hanabi and said, "Think about it, imouto. He is the one who has to participate in the Finals, not us. Besides, we already know how the match is going to end, so why bother getting so flustered?"

Hanabi turned to regard her older sister. In the three weeks that the three had spent wandering and training, Hinata's attitude and self-confidence had gained a huge boost, mainly from Naruto's help and praise. Hanabi herself was incredibly thankful toward the blonde for helping her sister out of the shell her father and the clan elders had forced her into, but still…

"That doesn't mean he had to leave us behind like that!"

Hinata sighed and merely looked on ahead at the approaching village. Grinning under her helmet, she turned to Hanabi and proclaimed, "Race you to the village?"

Hanabi looked at her older sister, practically feeling the smile radiating from under the white and red helmet, and smirked.

"You're on!"

With a strong surge of chakra, both girls sped up tremendously.

**0o0o0o0o0o0 ****_Back at the Arena _****0o0o0o0o0o0**

"No way…" Kiba breathed, "That's Naruto?!"

Sakura, Ino, Choji, and Tenten were at a loss and could not answer, as was most of the crowd. Hell, even the Kage couldn't say much due to their shock.

Naruto, getting annoyed at the gawking, called out to Genma, "Hey, is this a battle or a circus?! Start the match already!"

Inhaling sharply, Genma nodded and raised his hand, calling out, "The first match of the Chunnin Exam Finals, Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuuga. Begin!" before dropping his hand in a chop motion and jumping back.

Neither contestant moved just yet, sizing each other up. Naruto had learned quite a bit about Neji thanks to both Hinata and Hanabi, who had sparred with their cousin on occasion. He knew that Neji was an arrogant asshole and a firm believer in the notion that Fate defined all that you did; down to the very last log you dropped at the toilet. He could only shake his head at that paraphrased information.

Neji, meanwhile, had learned all he could about Naruto during the monthly break, despite believing that he was going to win anyways. He had learned that the blonde was hyperactive, had a very short attention span, loved to wear the color orange, and was also a large attention seeker, usually through pranks. The blonde was an avid user of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, something that he knew he'd have to watch out for. Other than that, his taijutsu sucked, his Genjutsu was nonexistent, and his Ninjutsu awfully low.

However, the person that stood before him was most certainly not the person he had learned about. This Naruto held himself in a guarded but calm pose, as if keeping his muscles tense for anything that might pop up to attack him. The blonde didn't rush at him headfirst like he had expected, instead merely standing there and studying the Hyuuga. And most of all… the armor. Just what was that? It wasn't like anything he had seen before. It looked more streamlined, more advanced, than any armor worn around Konoha.

However, not one to let show his emotions, he merely sneered and said, "So you did show up. Are you ready to show everyone why fighting against fate is a foolish endeavor?"

Naruto chuckled and said, "The only thing I'm ready to do is smear your ass all around the stadium, you pompous bastard."

This enraged Neji highly, something Naruto was counting on. The helmet once again assembled around Naruto's head, and the blonde held a hand to his hip. In a small poof of smoke, his trusty Plasma Cutter was in his hand. He pointed it at Neji, the three dots of the reticule shining against the pale-eyed boy's hitai-ate.

Neji once again sneered at Naruto. "So you have a new toy?"

Naruto didn't say a word and instead aimed down and fired a round of concentrated chakra against Neji's feet, sending dust flying and startling Neji so badly that the brunet fell back onto his butt.

Bringing the Plasma Cutter back up, he said, "You have no idea."

Growling in anger, Neji quickly stood and assumed the standard Gentle Fist stance but did not activate his kekkei genkai just yet. Without a word, he launched himself at the blonde at a quick speed and easily got inside his defenses. With a few thrusts of his hands, he shot chakra at Naruto, not bothering to check if the first hit had truly affected him before raining more blows down on him and finally pushing the boy back with a double palm thrust to his stomach, since he couldn't well attack the chest due to the protrusion there.

Naruto moved back several feet, his boots leaving trenches in the dirt. He remained leaning down, as if he were hurt. His body shook slightly, and Neji's sneer came back full force only to be replaced by an angry frown when laughter came out of Naruto's helmet. The armored boy raised his head, the helmet making it hard to discern his facial expression. The mocking tone that came from the helmet, however, didn't leave anything else open to interpretation.

"I'm sorry, did you hit me? I could have sworn I felt something, like something was touching me."

Neji's vision went red with anger, his Byakugan activating subconsciously. The Hyuuga was just about to run at the blonde again when he saw him lift the strange weapon up. With his Byakugan activated, he could now see that a constant stream of Naruto's chakra was moving towards the bottom of the weapon. For some odd reason, he couldn't actually see the inside of the weapon, but did notice that the chakra that was going into the weapon was coming back out from the front, but in a more compacted form. He couldn't study it any longer, however, because Naruto had pressed a trigger on the middle of the weapon and the chakra that was in the front of it had just shot at him at incredibly fast speeds. He probably wouldn't have been able to dodge had it not been for the fact that his Byakugan was activated.

The Hyuuga was forced into a game of "dodge the chakra bolts" by Naruto. He had to keep continuously moving in order to not get hit by the compacted chakra that Naruto was sending at him. Naruto, he noticed, was simply standing there, moving the weapon as necessary to hit him.

Unfortunately for Neji, since he was so busy dodging the bolts and thinking of a way to bypass them, he didn't notice the Kage Bunshin that Naruto had created a few yards away, which was wielding its own Plasma Cutter. He only noticed when he felt a severe burning on his left arm that made him cry out in pain before jumping into a tree and away from the armored blonde. Stopping at another tree a few yards away, he examined his left arm and noticed, to his horror, that it had a deep, cauterized cut on the upper part of the forearm, near his elbow. To his increasing horror, his Byakugan noticed that the chakra pathway there and the tenketsu near it, which was almost on the elbow itself, both seemed to be cut off from his chakra core! He couldn't channel chakra through there at all!

But that could only mean…

"His weapon has the same effect as the Jyuuken when it strikes…" Neji mumbled in shock.

His shock was increased when a voice whispered in his ear, "So you really are smart," before he felt a tremendous blow hit his back and send him flying back towards the center of the arena. The brunet landed harshly on the ground, creating a small crater. Naruto, meanwhile, merely walked out of the trees, his posture straight and serious.

"Give up, Neji," Naruto told the Hyuuga suddenly.

This made Neji pause. Him, a Hyuuga prodigy… to admit defeat to a dead-last _loser _one year his junior?! Inconceivable!

"N-never!" Neji growled out, forcefully standing up and facing Naruto, although everyone noticed that he allowed his left arm to hang limp at his side.

Naruto shook his head, feeling sorry for the brunet, before sealing his Plasma Cutter and reaching behind him. With a poof of smoke, another weapon appeared in his hand, this one much larger than the Cutter. It seemed long and heavy, considering Naruto was holding it with both hands. It was streamlined in design and had a red color scheme. What most people noticed, however, was the large hole in the front.

"Tell me, Neji," Naruto called out, snapping the Hyuuga from his inspection of the new weapon, "Just how good is the Hyuuga's Rotation defense?"

Neji's eyes widened to epic proportions when he heard this, and since his Byakugan was still active, he noticed that much of the blonde's chakra was gathering in the front of the weapon into a tightly compacted ball.

Without a second thought, Neji immediately began twisting on the spot while expelling chakra, causing a blue, rapidly spinning dome of chakra to form all around him. With a smirk that no one could see, Naruto set his shoulders and released the trigger.

The ball of massively compressed chakra blasted away from the weapon with a force so strong that it made Naruto take two steps back. And with the quick speeds it was traveling at, it only took a second to reach Neji's dome and make contact.

The resulting explosion rocked the entire arena. Most people had to look away at the bright flash of light that appeared for a while. When everyone focused once again, and the dust cloud disappeared, they could only look on in shock at the prone form of Neji that had been blasted into the arena's wall. The boy had been launched away with incredible force, and was now scratched from head to toe, a result of impacting against the ground several times before slamming against the wall. His head was hanging limp from his neck, but no one assumed he was dead as his chest could be seen heaving for air.

Naruto once again walked seriously up to Neji, looking at him critically before saying, "Once again, Neji, do you forfeit?"

Neji didn't respond for a few seconds. When he did look up, however, Naruto saw a glint in his eye.

"I… already said… that I would… never do so!" Neji forced out.

With a burst of chakra, the Hyuuga branch member pulled himself out of the wall, startling Naruto. With a practiced maneuver, he crouched in front of the armored boy and said, "You are within my field of divination!"

Even with only one functioning arm, Neji's speed was nothing to be scoffed at. He dashed quickly towards Naruto and hit him twice where he guessed the blonde's tenketsu were, shouting "Two palms!"

He followed up with four hits, yelling "Four palms!"

And so it went.

"Eight palms!"

"Sixteen palms!"

"Thirty-two palms!"

"**Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four palms!**"

At this last declaration, Neji pushed as much chakra as he could into his right hand and slammed it into Naruto's stomach. The resulting release of chakra sent Naruto flying away from Neji, making him slam into the ground twice before landing face-first against the ground and not moving again.

Everyone stared at the blonde in confusion. After the show he gave, he'd go down that easily?

Neji wasn't as cautious, but he _was _exhausted. The Hyuuga boy fell to his hands and knees and panted in exhaustion before looking meaningfully at Genma.

Genma, noticing the look and the armored blonde's inactivity, was about to call the match when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. With an almost invisible smirk, he dropped his hand. Neji noticed this and frowned at the man. He was about to ask what the hell he was waiting for when the cold feel of steel against the nape of his neck answered the question perfectly.

The fact that the armored blonde laying on the ground had just popped into smoke was merely extra credit on the question.

"H-how...?" Neji stuttered.

Naruto said nothing for a moment. When he did respond, his voice was unreadable. "You almost had me there, Neji. I guess they don't call you a genius for nothing. But unfortunately for you, I had made several Kage Bunshin at the beginning of the match, and quickly switched with one before you started your assault."

Neji and everyone else were amazed at this. Pulling off a seamless Kawarimi with a Kage Bunshin needed at least medium Chunnin-level chakra control, something most people didn't think Naruto was even close to.

"Do you give up now?" Naruto once again asked.

Neji remained silent for a moment before sighing and signaling with his good hand. "Go ahead, do it."

This sentence stopped the blonde in his tracks. Neji wanted Naruto to kill him?

"What are you waiting for? Do it already!" Neji said in an exasperated and tired tone.

Shaking his head, Naruto moved the Plasma Cutter... and bopped Neji over the head with it... hard.

"Ouch! What the hell?!" Neji exclaimed, holding his head.

"You dumbass," Naruto said shortly, "You really think I was going to kill you? As much as I detest your attitude, you're still a fellow Konoha ninja, and I'm not killing any of my comrades."

Neji looked up at him in shock as he continued, "Furthermore, both Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan would be angry and disappointed with me if I killed their cousin just because he was a stubborn asshole."

"And finally... You really need to get the fate stick out of your ass," Naruto continued, further shocking his opponent, "Our life isn't defined by some higher power. There's no god out there that just writes out how you're going to live your life as if you were a book character. We have free will for a reason: to make the best of our lives and our decisions. And sometimes, with a bit of luck, you may end up surprising yourself."

Neji looked on in wonder at the blonde in front of him, one who had been and still was opponent. Was all of that true? Could he actually make a life for himself despite the shackles that had been put on him as a Hyuuga Branch member?

He would have more chances to think about this later, as he was now slipping into unconsciousness from the blow to the back of the neck Naruto had just given him.

As Neji flopped to the ground face first, Genma lifted his right hand and declared, "Winner by knockout, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The shocked silence in the stands was broken as a single ninja stood and began to clap loudly for the blonde. Several other ninja followed his lead, the other Genin included. Soon enough, nearly everyone in the stands was giving the blonde a standing ovation. The only ones who were not were some especially hard-headed civilians and council members. Naruto looked up and disassembled his helmet, letting everyone see the wan smile on his face. With a single wave of his hand, he picked up Neji in a fireman's carry and took him directly to the medics standing by. Once he was sure the arrogant asshole would be well taken care of, he slowly walked up the steps to the competitors' balcony, where several stunned and curious faces greeted him. Oh, and one bloodthirsty one from none other than Gaara, but we all expected this by now.

The thoughts of the competitors were as follows:

Sasuke: _'Seriously, what the hell is the dobe wearing? That armor looks really strong. And those weapons! I wonder if he'd be willing to let me train with them…'_

Shikamaru: _'Man, Naruto's become _really _troublesome with that new upgrade. I really hope I don't have to fight him…'_

Shino: '…'

Garra: _'Yes… Mother… He has become even more worthy… to become your meal…'_

Temari: _'_This _is the brat that we met a few days before the first part of the exam?! This hunk of man-meat? Jeez, what a sudden change! It was only a month…'_

Kankuro: _'Pfft, showoff. I'll show him when the invasion starts… I'll show them all!_

"What?" Naruto questioned, breaking their connected trains of thought, "Do I have something on my face?"

Temari, Kankuro, and Shikamaru all sweatdropped while Gaara, Shino, and Sasuke merely kept staring at him. Shrugging, the blonde went to stand next to his teammate and leaned against the railing.

"Hey, Sasuke, ready for your match?" Naruto questioned.

"Hn, you already know I am, dobe," Sasuke responded lightly, "Kakashi was a good teacher in our training, though he was also pretty brutal."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Naruto said wistfully, watching as Shikamaru and Temari were called down to fight.

"By the way, dobe-," Sasuke began, but was quickly cut off by Naruto.

"You want to know about the armor and the weapons, correct?" Sasuke, slightly dumbfounded, merely nodded. "Don't worry, I plan to explain it to you and Sakura-chan, but not now. After the exams are over, then we can talk, since I don't want to repeat the same thing a number of times. One time will be unbelievable enough."

Sasuke nodded and faced the arena just as Shikamaru captured Temari with his Kagemane no Jutsu. He lifted his hand, forcing Temari to do the same, and… gave up.

Naruto chuckled, an action unknowingly emulated by both Choji and Asuma. "That Shika. For him, laziness will always win out in the end."

Sasuke nodded gruffly.

The match between Shino and Kankuro was called next, but Kankuro had declared forfeit mere seconds after the call. Amid the resultant boos, Genma acknowledged this and called out, "Final match of the first round, Gaara of the Sand vs Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke easily jumped over the railing and landed in a crouch next to Genma, only a second after Gaara, who had used a Suna Shunshin.

"Fighters ready?" A slight tensing of Sasuke's muscles and a pop from the cork of Gaara's gourd were his answers. "Very well then… Hajime!"

Gaara wasted no time. With a single mental command, the sand now flowing around him solidified into shuriken and flew at the Uchiha, who had just activated his Sharingan.

With the capabilities of his kekkei genkai now at hand, Sasuke easily dodged the first volley. It was only when the second volley was fired and the first turned back towards the avenger that he began to have trouble. Pumping chakra all around his body, Sasuke began his first assault.

Just as the shuriken were about to reach him, Sasuke suddenly shot off in a blast of displaced air. This stunned Gaara enough that he was unable to block the roundhouse kick that connected with his jaw, sending him flying. His automatic defense had reacted a second too late, and that was all that the Uchiha had needed.

Not wasting any time, Sasuke shot off towards the redhead and began laying blows upon blows onto him. His movements were fast and precise. In fact…

"He emulated Lee's Goken style," Naruto commented lightly, a small smile appearing on his face.

After several blows and combos, Sasuke shot an axe kick toward Gaara's midsection that connected and sent the redhead crashing to the ground. The Uchiha landed a few meters away, his breathing slightly labored. When he checked into the crater for his opponent, however, he was thrown for a loop at the sight of the pile of sand at the epicenter. Quickly turning, he noticed Gaara standing some yards away, his sand armor resealing itself slowly and a manic grin on his face.

"Yes…" He rasped, "You… You shall feed mother… you shall make me feel alive!"

With a clap of his hands, an orb of sand materialized around him, covering him in a cocoon made of several layers of Gaara's special sand, making it stronger than steel. A small amount of sand moved some meters above the orb and created an eye, which quickly latched onto Sasuke's position and continued to stare at him.

Studying the orb and eye with his two-tomoed Sharingan, the last loyal Uchiha jumped back several feet and channeled his chakra as his sensei had taught him. After three precise hand seals, he held one hand palm-down and gripped the wrist with the other hand. A second later, a familiar sound to any Konoha shinobi appeared: the sound of chirping birds.

With a blast of speed, Sasuke blasted away from his position, lightning flying around his left hand and wrist. He dashed directly at Gaara's orb of sand, intending to punch a hole right through it. The sand eye followed his movements and, as if in response, several spikes shot out from the orb directly toward the Uchiha. Thanks to his Sharingan, Sasuke was able to avoid them and got close to the orb. With a single thrust at the sphere, he called out the original jutsu of his sensei…

**"****CHIDORI!"**

With the sound of a small explosion, his arm drove directly through the sphere and Sasuke felt it pass through something else before he reached up to his shoulder. He maintained this position for a second before he heard a low voice ask, "What… is this feeling? This… liquid… is it…? BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOD!"

A bloodcurdling scream came from the inside of the orb, and Sasuke suddenly felt the sand begin to constrict his arm. With a burst of chakra and a hard pull, he brought it out before the sand could crush it and quickly jumped away, now breathing much more heavily due to his chakra usage.

The sand surrounding Gaara contained the jinchūriki's scream for a few moments before it exploded. Once the airborne sand landed, everyone could see that Gaara had changed. The left side of his body had become covered in sand, which branched off in such a way that it seemed he was becoming the sand itself instead of the sand merely covering him. The sand seemed to have several blue lines crossing over it. And up to Gaara's face, the sand had covered about half of it, making it appear as if a strange metamorphosis was happening. The bloodthirsty grin on his face only made the visage all the more disturbing.

_'__Uh-oh,' _Naruto thought, troubled at the change of events. He was about to pull out his Plasma Cutter when he felt a large influx of chakra and glowing feathers started falling from the sky. Recognizing the Genjutsu, he profusely thanked Hinata and Hanabi in their help with that field and quickly released his chakra in a sudden burst, ending the Genjutsu in time to see several spectators throw off their heavy cloaks to show Otogakure symbols and even more ninja jump over the wall of the arena to begin an attack on Konohagakure.

"An invasion?" Naruto questioned. He looked around and noticed that the other two Sand Siblings had left, grabbed their brother, and ran off into some nearby woods. Sasuke, having recognized and broken the illusion, chased after them. An explosion of smoke erupted in the Kage Booth, and several figures dashed out of it.

Naruto turned to Shino only to see him already up and ready. With a mutual nod, both ninja jumped out of the balcony, Naruto's helmet assembling around his head. Once they landed in the arena, Shino immediately sent his kikaichu at the nearest group of enemy ninja, who didn't see them on time and began screaming as they were surrounded by the bugs and drained of their chakra.

Naruto, meanwhile, stood a few feet away, using his Plasma Cutter and implanted experience in necromorph fighting to quickly disable or kill any enemies near him. After taking the arms off one enemy and the head off another's neck, he twisted and landed a heavy roundhouse kick at a ninja approaching from his left. He followed it up by firing several bolts at a group of ninja a few yards away, his pinpoint accuracy and compacted chakra destroying each of their necks.

With that taken care of, Naruto turned only to spot one Sunagakure ninja jumping right at Shino, who was unable to dodge or retaliate. Naruto used some chakra along with his thrusters to jump right at the man and tackle him in midair, sending them both to the ground. The blonde drew back his fist and landed a hook right to the man's jaw, rendering him unconscious. The blonde grabbed the man's arm and began spinning in place rapidly, releasing the arm second later and sending the Suna ninja in a collision course with another approaching ninja.

Naruto quickly stood back to back with Shino and said, "Shino, drain as many as you can! Let all of your kikaichu free! I'll cover you!"

"Arigato," was all the silent Aburame said, and promptly flared his sleeves, releasing a shitload of kikaichu which quickly began to attach themselves to any nearby enemy ninja. Naruto, meanwhile, was turning in place and hitting every single target he spotted around them.

As a two-man team, Shino and Naruto did admirably. They had managed to take down a total of thirty Suna and Oto ninja in the fifteen minutes that had passed since the invasion had started. This was duly noted by Kakashi, who was approaching their position while being flanked by Sakura, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, Choji, and Shikamaru.

"Naruto, Shino!" The yell caught the attention of the two Genin, who finished up their current opponents through decapitation and chakra drainage, respectively, and turned to greet the quintet.

"What's up, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked calmly.

"Listen up. I need you two, along with these five- (bark!) ...six... to go after the three Sand Siblings and back up Sasuke. He can't take them on alone, not in the state he's in at the moment."

Naruto nodded resolutely and made his trademark hand sign. In a large explosion of smoke, fifty Kage Bunshin were suddenly standing around the group of startled and awed Konoha ninja, each one readying their own Plasma Cutters.

"These are all reinforced Kage Bunshin, Kakashi-sensei. Coupled with their armor, they're very hard to dispel. They're all yours to command."

Kakashi nodded in appreciation and said, "Great work, Naruto. Now go!"

Without another word, Naruto shot off in the same direction Sasuke had gone in. The other five Genin quickly followed after him.

Kakashi turned to the group of Kage Bunshin and reverted to his ANBU Captain mode. In a commanding voice, he called out, "Alright, listen up! We're doing this in groups of ten! I need five groups of you to back up several locations: the Academy, the Hospital, the North and West Entrances, and the Hokage Tower! If you pass by any Konoha ninja having trouble, don't hesitate to help! Once your intended positions are secure, move on to the village itself! Move out!"

**"YES, SIR!" **the Naruto Kage Bunshin called out, quickly separating into the intended groups and running out to do their missions. Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan, and pulled out a kunai, launching himself at the nearest enemy.

As Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino jumped from tree to tree in Sasuke's direction, the blonde slowed down in order to be next to Sakura and asked, "Sakura-chan?"

"Yes?" Sakura said, turning her head to regard her teammate.

"Did Kakashi-sensei explain the parameters of this mission?"

Sakura nodded. "Kakashi-sensei said that since Sasuke-kun already used the Chidori once, his chakra levels would be cut by half. He can only make one more before he has to rest for a long time. He also said that Gaara was especially dangerous and to be very careful of him and his sand."

Naruto nodded and filed the info away. The part about Gaara he already knew but not the part about the Chidori.

_'Stay alive, teme.'_

Said teme was currently kneeling on a tree branch and panting in exhaustion. He had tried his best against Gaara, but no matter what attacks he threw, the redhead survived like they were nothing. He had already reached his limit with the Chidori, and with Gaara advancing menacingly toward him, it seemed this was it for him.

A burning sensation appeared at his neck, making him wince in pain, and a slithery voice whispered in his head, saying promises of power if he only subjected to it...

"No," Sasuke said out loud, "I will not let you control me!"

Gaara, thinking that the Uchiha was talking to him, grinned even wider and launched himself with a yell towards Sasuke, who braced himself.

However, neither them nor Temari and Kankuro, who were watching from a distance, expected the blast of compressed chakra that suddenly flew in and slammed against Gaara, blasting him away from Sasuke and into a couple of trees, which toppled on top of him.

_'What?!' _was the thought of Temari and Kankuro.

_'That can't have been the dobe. His attack isn't like that... Then who...?'_

Sasuke's unspoken question was answered when two figures landed on each side of him., startling him. The one to his right had on armor that was identical to Naruto's, only with a different color scheme. Whoever it was was also wielding a large grey and yellow weapon in her right hand. Yes, her, since the round bumps on the figure's chest could only belong to a female. The one to his left had a suit on that had smoother armor and a more rounded helmet, both of which had a grey, checkerboard color palette. This figure also had breasts, only they were less noticeable, so definitely female. She was wielding a long weapon in her hands which had three cylinders in the front and a blue color scheme.

"Sasuke-san," the girl to his right spoke up, "Are you severely hurt?"

The voice sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember why. He proceeded the question and shook his head. "No, just some chakra exhaustion."

"Well, you better patch him up, oneechan. I can hold off this psycho for now," the second figure responded, her voice sounding only slightly younger than the other armored girl's.

"Who the heck are you?" Sasuke questioned as the right figure knelt to his side and pulled out a pill from a pocket of her suit.

After giving him the pill to swallow, the girl pressed a button on her wrist, which disassembled her helmet. The face that greeted him was not the one he expected.

"H-Hinata?!"

"Yes, it's me, Sasuke-san," the bluenette responded, "And my companion is my imouto Hanabi." The other armored girl merely nodded in his direction, not taking her eyes away from the spot where Gaara had flown to.

Sasuke was just starting to get up, his chakra returning slowly, when Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, and Team 10 burst from the foliage behind him, all prepared to do battle. Spotting them, Naruto quickly walked up to Sasuke... and promptly whacked him on the back of his head.

"Ow! The hell, dobe?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"That's for chasing after an enemy that you had little Intel on, dumbass," Naruto responded. He turned to the two armored girls and said, "Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan, glad you made it in time."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Hanabi snorted, "The hell were you thinking, just leaving us behind like that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his helmet sheepishly. "Well, I lost track of time! If I hadn't hurried, I'd have been disqualified!"

Hinata moved next to him and patted his shoulder, saying, "Well, now you know better, Naruto-kun. How was the match with Neji-niisan? I assume you wiped the floor with him."

To those who knew Hinata, mainly Kiba, Shino, and the girls, this bluenette in front of them was making their jaws drop with her stance and form of talking.

Naruto was about to answer, but a massive dose of killing intent blasted out from Gaara's crater, followed up by the trees that were covering him being flung away by pillars of sand. The blonde took the reins of the battle and called out, "Everyone, inventory report!"

"I've got some ointment for burns," Sakura said.

"I still have a few smoke bombs and one strong explosive tag. I also have several kunai and about a foot of wire," Sasuke followed up.

"I've got some kunai and shuriken on me, plus one smoke bomb," Kiba called out.

"Three kunai, ten shuriken," Shino said in his usual monotone.

"Troublesome... I've only got two kunai and some wire left," one guess as to who that was.

"I've got two kunai and two shuriken, plus my pills," Choji continued.

"I've... got nothing," Ino said sheepishly.

"Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto prompted.

"One large, two medium, and one small med pack; Several packs of ammo for the Pulse Rifle; five kunai and seven shuriken; and my Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle, and Seeker Rifle; practically full on chakra too," Hanabi said.

"I have two Large Med Packs, three Medium ones, and five Small ones; my Plasma Cutter, a Javelin Gun, Force Gun, and a Line Gun; about three packs of Javelins; two soldier pills; and some kunai. My chakra is just about full as well," Hinata followed up.

Making several calculations in his head while watching the approaching Gaara, Naruto yelled, "Spread out!" and jumped, followed by everyone moving away not a moment before Gaara slammed the tree they were standing on with a lance of sand.

Landing on another tree branch, Naruto called out, "Hanabi-chan, Kiba, Shino, and Shikamaru, to me!"

The four of them approached his position, and he launched the first phase of his plan, "Listen up. We need to get Temari and Kankuro out of the way. I don't know if they plan to also fight, but I'd rather not give them the chance. Kiba, Shino, you guys go after Kankuro. You shouldn't have too much problem. Hanabi-chan, Shikamaru, you two go after Temari. You're already familiar with her fighting style, Shika, so you can help get this done quick!"

"Since when are you giving the orders?" Kiba asked incredulously.

The tree they were standing on rocked side to side as a wave of sand crashed against it, forcing them to relocate. Pushing down his annoyance, he yelled out, "Since no one else has a fucking plan! Look, I'll explain as I go!"

The four of them nodded and split off to find their respective targets. Meanwhile, Naruto turned to the rest of his comrades and said, "Alright, Sakura, Ino, I need you two on standby right now. I don't know what injuries will come out of this fight, so keep yourselves ready to help any of us. Sasuke, Hinata-chan, Choji, we're moving out against Gaara."

Everyone nodded. Together, the four Genin jumped toward their madly cackling opponent.

**0o0o0o0o0o0 With Kiba and Shino 0o0o0o0o0o0**

Using his nose and ears, Kiba quickly located Kankuro by the smell of oil and wood. Without a word, the two- (bark!) …three members of Team 8 landed right in front of the makeup-wearing boy, startling him.

"The hell?!" Kankuro questioned.

"You, puppet boy," Kiba called out, pointing at Kankuro, "are gonna be taken down!"

Kankuro sneered and brought out Karasu in one swift movement, the puppet's many limbs moving back and forth as the owner said, "As if you could, you stupid little boy."

This remark incensed Kiba, but a hand on his shoulder from Shino stopped him. "Calm yourself, Kiba. He is trying to anger you. Keep a cool head."

Kiba nodded and took a deep breath. With a determined look, he tossed Akamaru a pill, which the puppy caught between its teeth and chomped down on, and made a hand sign.

"Jūjin Bunshin! Shikyaku no Jutsu! Let's do this, Shino!"

"Hai," was all Shino said, releasing his kikaichū as his teammate and his teammate's clone prepared to battle.

**0o0o0o0o0o0 With Hanabi and Shikamaru 0o0o0o0o0o0**

Temari was severely startled when an armored girl and the lazy bum Shikamaru landed right in front of her.

"Well, let's get this over with," Shikamaru drawled.

"Come on, Shikamaru, be serious for once. You know what's at stake," the girl said.

"Mendosuke, fine, Hanabi," the Nara responded, pulling out a kunai as his eyes became focused and calculative.

"So, you two think you can stop me?" Temari called out, sounding more confident than she was. With a swift move, she pulled out her fan and opened it fully. "Well, let's just see!"

As Hanabi's helmet assembled around her head, Shikamaru tensed, and Temari began gathering chakra.

**0o0o0o0o0o0 With Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Choji 0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Naruto and Hinata landed softly on a tree branch some paces away from Gaara, who merely stared at them maniacally. Sasuke and Choji landed not too far behind.

"Alright, I have a plan. Sasuke, we're gonna need two of those smoke bombs. Choji, I want you to begin gathering as much chakra as you can and get ready to slam a gigantic fist on top of short, red-haired, and creepy over there. Hinata-chan, you and I will be distraction. Hit him as hard as you can, but don't aim to kill, merely to disable. Sasuke, on my command!"

The last loyal Uchiha stared at his blonde teammate with wonder, but followed the order and jumped to a higher branch to keep a lookout. Choji was already working on the chakra, molding it in the perfect way for a large fist. Hinata merely nodded and reassembled her helmet, readying her Force Gun. Naruto readied his Plasma Cutter and jumped right for the bloodthirsty jinchūriki, followed closely by Hinata.

**And that's the end of Chapter 2. Now, a reviewer mentioned that I sometimes say too much detail that isn't going to be brought to the spotlight at all. I apologize for that, but sometimes I just forget about certain things I write and I only remember when I re-read the chapter. I'll try to tone down on it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto and Hinata dashed forward, directly at Gaara, who ran straight at them as well. When they were about three feet from him, Gaara thrust his sand arm forward, making it elongate and become larger in order to either slam into or grab his opponents. Naruto and Hinata were having none of that, and quickly used their thrusters to sidestep the sand arm. Naruto landed right on the arm and ran at a quick speed towards the insane jinchūriki, getting close enough to land a powerful roundhouse kick on Gaara's face, which was made all the more painful by the metal pieces around Naruto's boot. Gaara was subsequently sent flying into a tree, although it didn't break. It did break, however, when Hinata appeared in front of the insane jinchūriki and shot a compressed force blast into his chest, sending the redhead through that tree and two more behind it.

Naruto landed right next to her and said, "This feels a lot easier than it should be."

As if to answer him, a medium-sized sand fist shot forward and hit him on the stomach, making him double over with a gasp. Hinata shook her head and said, "You just had to say that, didn't you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto chuckled and stood back up. "Well, you know me, Hinata-chan. Life just loves to fuck with me."

Both ninja jumped apart as several lances of sand shot toward them, followed by Gaara, who was yelling incoherently.

"Hinata, let's draw him into the clearing over there!" Naruto yelled out, waving to a clearing a few feet away. Hinata nodded and shot a force blast right at Gaara's feet, making dust fly all around. She jumped away a moment before she was skewered by a sand spear, landing directly in the middle of the clearing Naruto had signaled to. The whisker-faced blonde took to opportunity to take out his third weapon: the Pulse Rifle sealed onto a part of his left leg. With a puff of smoke, the blue, triple-barreled weapon was in his hands, and without preamble, he aimed it at Gaara and let loose a hail of bullets that Gaara couldn't dodge in time. The redhead screamed, half in frustration and half in pain, as several bolts of both metal and chakra landed on his skin and sand, the small metal bolts digging deep inside his body. Naruto cut the hail of bullets before he hurt Gaara severely, allowing him to gather his strength before the redhead jumped at them again. He jumped into the clearing Hinata was in, waiting for the inevitable response.

Gaara predictably jumped directly at them, at which point Naruto yelled, "Sasuke, smoke bombs, now!" just as he and Hinata jumped to either side of the clearing. Sasuke threw the smoke bombs down from the tree he was hiding in, his Sharingan allowing him to have prefect accuracy. The bombs detonated as soon as Gaara's feet touched the ground, filling the air with black smoke that was impossible to see through unless you had a doujutsu.

Naruto opened a RIGlink channel with Hinata's suit and said, "Hinata, I'm going to hit him with Stasis. Activate your Byakugan, and if I miss or he dodges, you hit him with it."

"Copy that, Naruto-kun," Hinata responded, doing the necessary signs to activate her doujutsu.

As Gaara turned in confusion and anger inside the smoke cloud, looking for his unwilling victims, he sensed something flying at him from his left. He quickly jumped, dodging the blue bolt of energy that flew underneath, but was unprepared when another energy bolt flew in from his right with pinpoint accuracy and hit his uncovered side. He was even more perplexed when he felt as if he had been dunked in a pool of ice cold water, and his movements were substantially slowed.

"Choji, now! Slam him down!" Naruto yelled.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" Choji called out, having jumped from a nearby tree to end up directly above the slowed down form of Gaara. The chubby boy released the hand seal and punched down toward the redhead, his entire arm increasing in size exponentially. Gaara was certainly surprised when he was suddenly slammed face-first into the ground by a fist twice his size, and his slowed down yell of pain showed it.

"Alright, Sasuke, finish it! One Chidori to the left part of his sternum should do it!" Naruto yelled at his teammate.

"Right," Sasuke called out to him, doing the necessary hand seals. His hand was quickly encased by lightning, and he jumped down immediately toward the face-down Gaara, carefully but also powerfully slamming his Chidori onto the less sand-covered part of Gaara's sternum. Gaara gave a loud cry of pain before going limp and remaining still, his sand slowly falling from his body.

Naruto walked up to his teammate as the Uchiha took his hand out of Gaara's stomach and flicked it, sending some blood flying. Hinata and Choji quickly joined them.

"Alright, Hinata, patch up the hole and let's bring him back to Konoha. I think we really need to talk to the old man about this one," Naruto said.

"Why not just kill him?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"Because the battle is over, Sasuke," Naruto said in a hard tone. "There's no need to kill him."

"You say that as if you could!"

The four Konoha Genin jumped back in reflex as Gaara yelled out and was surrounded by increasingly large piles of sand. Only Hinata and Sasuke noticed that Gaara's eyes weren't his usual teal color but had become black and yellow, with a four-pointed star in the middle.

A small sandstorm started up, making everyone cover their eyes. The sand kicked up when something large slammed onto the ground, and when the Genin uncovered their eyes, they were massively startled at the sight of the giant tanuki that was now taking up the clearing they had been standing in and most of the trees around it.

"Oh…" Hinata and Choji began.

"… Shit…" Naruto and Sasuke finished.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 Meanwhile, with Kiba and Shino 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

"Gatsūga!"

Two twin tornadoes of fangs and claws flew toward Kankuro, who deftly used one of his puppets' blades to deflect them. As much as they tried, the two Inuzuka just couldn't hit the puppet user, as he kept deflecting their attacks with his puppets. Shino was having a similarly bad time, as one of Kankuro's puppets had a flamethrower and would incinerate any bugs that the makeup-wearing boy saw.

"HA! Just give up, will you? You can't beat me!" Kankuro crowed.

Both tornadoes turned back and stopped spinning, revealing two Kibas. They landed on either side of Shino, who casually adjusted his glasses.

"Damn, how the hell do we get past this guy's defence? I don't know where he got those blades, but they can resist my Gatsūga like it's nothing!" the Kiba to his left spoke.

"What we need to do is find a way to attach my kikaichū to him. Why? Without chakra, he cannot attach chakra strings to his puppets, therefore rendering him more vulnerable."

Kiba nodded, looking at the puppet user, who was also studying them.

"I have an idea. Your bugs don't drain people's chakra unless you tell them to, right?" Kiba asked.

"Correct," Shino responded.

"Then here's what we'll do," Kiba said, whispering into Shino's ear. Shino had to admit, it was a sound plan.

"Let us do it," Shino said, stealthily releasing a number of kikaichū.

"So you're coming at me again?" Kankuro sneered, moving his puppet back in front of him. "Let's see you try!"

The two Kibas wasted no time. They dashed forward and jumped, twisting into tornadoes with a cry of, "Gatsūga!"

The first volley was deflected, as expected, and Kankuro was about to yell out a condescending remark when he became aware that the two tornadoes weren't attempting to hit him. Instead, the tornadoes were at each other's tail, chasing themselves in a circular pattern around him.

"Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work!" Kankuro yelled, thrusting Crow to one part of the spinning circle, intending to break through it. To his shock, the puppet was thrown back as soon as he touched one of the spinning tornadoes, nearly clipping Kankuro's side as it flew back.

"What the hell is going on?" Kankuro muttered. He was suddenly aware that the circle the tornadoes were making was becoming shorter and shorter until it appeared to be one single spinning circle.

"Now, Shino!"

At the sound of Kiba's voice, a large wave of kikaichū flew out of the circle of fangs and claws, twisting in sync with the two Kibas and creating a cyclone of kikaichū. Kankuro was unable to escape the large amount and soon found himself unable to hold on to the puppets through his chakra strings. The hooded Sunagakure ninja fell to his knees as the cyclone dispersed to reveal Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru standing side to side a few feet from him. Without preamble, Shino walked forward and hit Kankuro on his temple with the blunt side of his kunai, rendering him unconscious.

"Let's go see how the others are doing, ne?" Kiba asked, with Akamaru barking happily in response. Just as the two ninja had finished tying up Kankuro, however, a massive sandstorm kicked up and rendered them slightly blind for a short time. Along with it came the feel of a large chakra quantity, one that felt... strange, insane even.

"Shit, what's happening over there?" Kiba asked, momentarily forgetting Kankuro.

Shino said nothing, but he was equally worried. With a mutual nod and a bark, the two Genin and one ninken jumped into the trees toward their friends, with Kankuro hanging over Kiba's left shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 with Shikamaru and Hanabi 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

Several blades of wind flew toward the Konoha duo, who jumped away just in time. They continued jumping as Temari shot several more in their direction.

"Damnit! Any ideas, Shikamaru?!" Hanabi yelled, firing several plasma shots at Temari, who barely dodged them by emulating their strategy and simply jumping away.

"Before I tell you, mind telling me what your Pulse Rifle and Seeker Rifle do?" Shikamaru asked, putting his mental calculations on pause.

"The Pulse Rifle is a weapon that fires compressed pieces of metal at a fast speed, allowing it to punch through skin and muscle without problems. However, the bolts it fires are small, so it wouldn't do too much damage. It also has a secondary firing mode that can shoot an explosive. The Seeker is practically the polar opposite. The ammunition for it is much stronger than the Pulse Rifle's, but it has a slow firing speed, since it's meant to take out enemies from afar with the zooming scope and hopefully without them knowing."

Shikamaru frowned in thought as he and Hanabi jumped away from another volley of wind blasts. Finally, he said, "I got it! Come here."

After the plan was explained, Hanabi nodded and jumped away, leaving Shikamaru to jump forward and land a few feet away from Temari.

"This is such a drag..." Shikamaru moaned, keeping up his standard act.

"So, you've given up, shadow boy?" Temari asked in a condescending tone. "Figures. Hell, even that little girl that was with you left you to my mercy."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Shikamaru yawned, "Can you just give up now? I don't want to have to fight the same troublesome girl twice."

A tick mark appeared on Temari's temple at Shikamaru's words. "You better stop underestimating me, asshole!"

Shikamaru shrugged and, in one smooth motion, got down on one knee and put his hands into the rat seal, saying, "Kagemane no Jutsu."

Temari, knowing about the jutsu, jumped back in order to get out of its range, but as soon as she stepped back a few steps, she found herself unable to move.

"The hell?!" Temari exclaimed, struggling to get free.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success," a voice sounded from behind her as the Shikamaru in front of her faded away into nothingness. "You fell right for my trap."

Having caught the Suna wind user, Shikamaru made a signal with his right hand that Temari replicated.

Almost immediately, Temari felt a searing pain in her left leg as something pierced through her thigh with incredible speed. Her scream of pain only doubled when the same thing happened to her right leg as well. Without her legs having strength to support her, Temari fell to the ground as Shikamaru dropped the Kagemane.

As Temari laid on the ground, whimpering and gritting her teeth in pain, Hanabi soared and landed next to her as Shikamaru walked up to the two girls.

"That was a little brutal," Shikamaru commented, to which Hanabi shrugged.

Temari could only look up in slight fear, not knowing what the two ninja had in store for her. That fear increased exponentially when a massive sandstorm kicked up around them, along with a heavy and malevolent chakra.

"Oh no..." Temari could only say.

"What? What is it?" Shikamaru asked with eyes narrowed.

"Your village is done for... and so are we. Gaara released _it_..."

"It? What the hell is 'it'?" Hanabi asked, pulling the girl up by her shirt. "What's been released?!"

"It's..."

* * *

><p>"The Ichibi..." Naruto unknowingly finished, looking up at the sand construct.<p>

"The Ichibi? The hell is that?" Sasuke asked from his side.

"It's just like the Kyuubi that attacked our village years ago... one of the bijū. They're masses of chakra with a clear consciousness. And this one is Suna's bijū."

"Oh... crap..." Sasuke whispered.

A sound came from Naruto's RIG as a video communication channel was opened, activating a holographic video that showed both Hinata and Choji standing side to side. While Hinata's expression wasn't discernible, Choji's was, showing that the boy was scared beyond belief.

"How do we deal with this one, Naruto-kun?!" Hinata exclaimed into the video.

As Sasuke stood next to Naruto so he could see the video better, Naruto said, "I... don't know. I've never dealt with this! I only know how to work on spaceships, not giant tanuki!"

The sand construct suddenly thrashed, sending several waves of sand that made the kids have to jump to a new location. Mid-jump, Naruto channelled some chakra to his eyes in order to study the construct better, and noticed something that gave him pause.

"Hey, check it out," Naruto called out to Sasuke, who came closer. On the same floating screen that had displayed the video of Hinata earlier was a picture of the sand tanuki that Naruto had quickly taken mid-flight. The picture zoomed in exponentially, showing that on the construct's head was Gaara, sticking out of it like a zit. As Naruto sent the picture to Hinata, Sasuke used his Sharingan to study the construct and noticed that Gaara never really moved from there. He was literally up to the waist in sand, and was directing it to attack the nearby woods.

"You noticed it too, didn't you?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "He seems to be controlling the sand still, which means..."

"That's not really the Ichibi. It's just a manifestation of it, made by Gaara's sand."

"So, to wrest control from him..."

"We need to take him out of that sand construct," both boys finished.

Naruto relayed the idea to Hinata and Choji, who nodded resolutely. However, before they could decide fully on a plan of action, Gaara suddenly yelled, "If you will not come out, then fine! I shall let mother find you! And she will kill you!" With that declaration, Gaara held his hands in one seal and muttered, "Feigned Sleep Jutsu..." before falling asleep.

Almost immediately, the tanuki's eyes gained the shape of a four-pointed star and the construct became more defined. With a gleeful laugh and a cry of, "**I'M FREE!" **the Ichibi began sending several waves of sand in all directions, levelling many of the trees around and making the kids have to jump away once again, with Naruto using his thrusters to fly himself and Sasuke out of danger.

"Okay..." Naruto muttered, "_That _is the Ichibi."

"Yo, you guys need help?!"

Naruto turned himself and Sasuke around in mid-air to see none other than the four other members of their party appear from the trees. With the exception of Kiba, whose jacket was cut here and there, the four ninja were in tip-top shape. Behind the group, tied up to a tree, were Kankuro and Temari, the former being completely unconscious and the latter looking up at the sand construct in fear while temporarily ignoring the bleeding holes in her thighs.

"Glad you guys could make it," Naruto called out. At that time, Hinata and Choji appeared from the right and landed next to the four, bringing their group to completion (with the exception of Sakura and Ino, who were merely hanging back and staring at the bijū).

"Anyone have any injuries?" Several shakes of heads was his answer. "Good. That means we can get going. Now, our main objective is to take out that big sand construct that you see in front of you. However, not by destroying it. Instead, we need to reach the tanuki's forehead, where," here he showed them the zoomed in picture of where Gaara was situated, "this guy is sleeping like a damn lazy bastard we all know and love." A few chuckles went around as Shikamaru muttered his trademark one-worded response to everything. "Anyways, in that sense, at least one of us has to get in close to wake Gaara up, as the guy is a jinchūriki, otherwise known as a demon container. I think that as long as he's asleep, the Ichibi will continue to have control."

"And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, I was actually going to ask you," Naruto said sheepishly.

"Mendosuke..." Shikamaru muttered. "Alright, here's what we'll do."

As soon as the plan was quickly explained, the group split, with Hanabi going deeper into the woods; Naruto flying high into the air; Sasuke, Kiba, and Choji moving to surround the Ichibi in a triangular formation; and Hinata moving behind the sand construct and readying her Javelin Gun.

**"Whatever you kiddies plan to do, it won't work! I'm going to kill you all! Then I'm going to kill the redhead brat I'm sealed in, and I'm going to ****_raze _****your pathetic village to the ground!" **The Ichibi cried out gleefully.

Almost everyone stopped as they heard the Ichibi speak. Sasuke was the first to recover and was about to respond when a tightly compacted ball of chakra flew in at incredible speed and slammed into the Ichibi's nose, exploding with such force that its entire face was blown off. Naruto's voice followed it, saying, "Don't you _ever _try to threaten my home! I'll destroy anyone to protect it, even a mass of chakra, because that's my ninja way!"

Naruto's declaration bolstered the spirits of his friends, who all became more determined to protect the great tree that was Konoha. With renewed vigour, Shikamaru called out, "Kagemane no Jutsu!" using the shadows of the trees around him to bolster the power of the jutsu. His shadow flew forward and latched onto the shadow of the giant tanuki, nearly making Shikamaru release the jutsu in shock at the amount of effort it took to hold it back.

"Guys, now!"

"Gatsūga!"

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"

As Kiba and Akamaru became twin tornadoes and aimed for the Ichibi's frontal legs, Sasuke threw a chakra-enhanced kunai at the middle of the back legs of the tanuki, one that had both an explosive tag and a long wire attached to it. When he activated his jutsu, a long and powerful line of flame flew from his mouth, down the wire, and to the explosive tag, which exploded quite powerfully.

The result was that both the front and back legs of the tanuki were blown off, leaving it suspended in mid-air for a brief moment. It was at that moment that Choji appeared above the tanuki with a giant first and slammed it to the ground, causing it to scream out, more in frustration than pain.

"Hinata!"

"Got it!"

At this point, Hinata activated her thrusters and flew quickly around the tanuki, shooting several javelins into its sandy body. With Hinata's skill and doujutsu, the javelins landed in several key spots. Landing at exactly the same place she had been before the fly-around, she pushed the button that activated the secondary function of the Javelin Gun.

This time, the Ichibi cried out in actual pain as each of the javelins were electrified, sending a shitload of volts through its body. The electrocution lasted several seconds, and when each javelin was done with its payload, it exploded, further eroding the body of the tanuki.

"Naruto, you're up!"

"Hai!"

**"I... won't let you... SEAL ME AWAY AGAIN!"**

Naruto flew down from the sky like an avenging angel at the same time the Ichibi shot out several waves of sand, all aimed towards the blonde. Thanks to his reflexes, suit, and thrusters, Naruto was able to skilfully fly around the waves and get close enough to Gaara to fly right next to him, punching him hard enough that he popped out of the sand construct with an almost comical 'pop'. The punch had nearly dislocated the redhead's jaw due to the speed and power behind it, and the pain and shock were enough to jolt the redhead back into consciousness, thus sending the unwilling tanuki back into its seal.

**"No! NO! I WAS SO CLOSE! SO... close...!"**

"Hanabi, disable him!"

Before Gaara could fully regain his senses, he cried out in pain as something pierced through his left thigh, followed by his right one, then his left and right arms. The shots had pierced the muscle near the nerve of each limb, close enough to disable them but not to damage the nerve too badly.

Unable to move, Gaara was about to slam headfirst into the ground, but was caught mid-flight by Naruto, who grabbed him by his white sash and set him down gently with his back to a tree. With the situation being contained, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji relaxed and sat down leaning against nearby trees, each of them tired from using their clan jutsu so often and with so much effort. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and let out a sigh while Naruto and Hinata retracted their helmets. Hanabi had gone to get the other two prisoners and had put them on either side of Gaara before retracting her helmet as well and smoothing out her hair. Sakura and Ino had come out of the woods but a moment later, immediately fussing over the fighters.

"How...?" Gaara rasped out, looking at the still standing shinobi with confusion. "How... could you defeat me...? My hatred was strong... I lived for no one but myself... so... How...?"

Naruto was the one who answered. "Because we worked together. Because we had a large goal in mind. And because... we were protecting that which was precious to us. Not just our friends, but our family and village as well. That is why I fight. That's why _we _fight. To protect our loved ones." Sasuke looked away at this, gritting his teeth at the reminder of what he lost.

"For your loved ones...?" Gaara questioned, mostly to himself.

"You want to know something, Gaara?" Naruto asked suddenly, deciding to go ahead with his idea. At Gaara's nod, he continued. "I... I'm just like you, in a sense."

This startled everyone in the clearing, especially the Konoha shinobi.

"What... are you talking about?" Gaara was the one who asked the question everyone had in their minds.

"I'm also a jinchūriki," Naruto said, shocking everyone in the clearing. "As I'm sure you know, Gaara, bijū can't be killed. So the Yondaime Hokage never actually killed the Kyūbi that attacked Konoha thirteen years ago. Instead, he sealed it into a recently born baby... me." To prove his point, Naruto focused his chakra into the seal on his stomach and pulled some bijū chakra from it, enough to change his facial structure. His whisker marks became larger and darker, his eyes became red with a slit for a pupil, and a small amount of red chakra floated out of his body, startling the other people in the clearing.

"Heh..." Shikamaru chuckled, drawing their attention to him. "You just cleared up one of the biggest puzzles I've had, Naruto. I've seen the villagers' attitudes toward you, and I've heard them call you a demon once in a while, and when I found out your birthday was on October tenth, I figured it had to do with the Kyūbi attack. I just couldn't figure out how. It was a puzzle that irked me to no end."

Naruto laughed out loud at Shikamaru's explanation, his voice sounding deeper and rougher than it normally did. When the laughter stopped, he said, "That is the absolutely best reaction I've had at telling someone about my burden! Then again, I haven't told anyone in the first place..."

"Then..." Gaara began, now completely confused. "How are you so... carefree... and... strong...? You must have had a similar life to mine, where people only saw us as either weapons or... demons..."

Naruto released the demonic chakra and knelt in front of Gaara, looking at him with sympathy before answering. "Yes, I definitely had a rough life. I was chased out of stores, overpriced for even expired items, shunned, ignored, and at times even beaten by large mobs. It... wasn't pleasant."

The Konoha shinobi around him looked at him with a large amount of shock and even some scepticism, although the latter went away when his pose and eyes told that he was telling the truth, possibly even a sugar-coated version of the truth. The next feeling they collectively had was disgust for the adults of the village, especially their parents as they could each distinctly remember at least one time where they could have helped Naruto but instead did nothing. Sakura had an especially hard time, as she knew that her mother was especially hateful of Naruto, while her father was more neutral about him, but she could never figure out why.

They were all brought back by Naruto continuing. "But you know, despite the fact that I had no parents to know and love, and no other close family, I still managed to find loved ones. I may have been alone from the beginning, but that didn't stop me. I realize after some time that crying wasn't going to solve anything, so I simply plastered a smile on my face and looked to the future, hoping that the next day would be better than before. Thus, my ninja way was born. I never gave up on my dreams and hopes, knowing that one day I'd achieve them. And as time passed, I found more and more people that saw me for who I was, not what I carried. At first it was just the Hokage and two nice restaurant owners. Then it was Iruka-sensei, who saw me as a good student and a little brother of sorts. Then I got some friends at the Academy, and finally my teammates and sensei of Squad 7, along with the other squads, all of whom I've come to care for deeply. And it's for that reason that I'm so strong. Because I've realised that this world of ours is a rough one, and I have a feeling it will get even worse before it gets better. For that reason, I train. I try to become the strongest I can be in order to protect that which I love. _That _is why I want to become Hokage. At first I wanted to become the leader of the village for recognition, but then I realised that, like the Yondaime, recognition simply didn't come from being the strongest. No, what I wanted to truly do was protect everyone until my dying breath, just like him. And so I took that to heart, doing the best I could with the tools I was given. And _that's _why I'm so strong. Because I have to be in order to be in order to protect everything that I know and love from those that, like the Ichibi, only want to destroy them."

Silence reigned as everyone processed the information Naruto had relayed. It was broken moments later by Gaara releasing a low, raspy sigh, one that spoke of sadness but also of wistful thoughts.

"I wish... I could be like that..." Gaara whispered in an almost inaudible tone.

"Who says you can't?" Naruto asked, making Gaara snap his head up in surprise. "You don't need to be a newly born kid to have a second chance. Instead, you should see your life up to now as the trials that you need to move on in life, quite possibly forging a new path for yourself. And you won't have to be alone. If no one else, you'll always have me, Gaara." Gaara's eyes widened almost comically at this. "We jinchūriki need to stick together, and I'll be damned if one of the few people that can relate to what I've been through will be alone. Not on my watch."

Gaara remained silent, looking down to the ground. The silence was then broken by Temari, who looked at Gaara with teary eyes (a by-product of Naruto's story and declaration) and said, "You'll also have us as well, Gaara. I know we haven't had much sibling bonding time, but we're still family and we always will be. Kankuro and I will always be beside you."

Gaara remained looking down to the floor for a few more seconds before finally looking up, a wan smile on his face that was reciprocated by Naruto and Temari. "Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki. Thank you for your friendship. I promise, I will do my best to change. I now have... hope, a word that was so foreign to me." He turned his head slightly to lock eyes with his sister. "And thank you as well, Temari, for being there for me, even when I pushed you away. You truly are a great person."

Both blondes nodded happily at the boy, and Naruto knelt down to untie him while asking over his shoulder, "Hey, Hinata-chan, could you patch up Temari for me?"

Hinata smiled and nodded, walking up to the blonde girl while digging out a medium med pack and kneeling in front of Temari in order to close the still bleeding holes in her legs.

As soon as both ninja were untied as well as up and about, the rest of the Konoha ninja tensed, and rightly so considering what came out of Gaara minutes earlier. Gaara gave them all a once over before bowing his head and saying, "I apologize for any inconvenience I have caused you."

The Konoha ninja were silent for some time before Shikamaru chuckled and said, "You're forgiven by me. It would be too troublesome to hold a grudge against a jinchūriki."

That broke the ice and allowed the two groups (minus the still unconscious Kankuro) to mingle for a short while before an ANBU operative appeared from the trees around them, landing in front of them.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara Sabaku, I have been told to fetch you," the ANBU said in an oddly nondescript voice.

Naruto looked at the operative sideways and immediately noticed something odd about the man.

"Who's asking for us?" Naruto asked.

"The Hokage."

"Liar," Naruto said coldly, making the fake ANBU operative stiffen. "You see, I have barged into Hokage-jiji's office often enough times to know just what the ANBU look like, especially his personal guard. None of the men and women I've seen coming through jiji's office have ever worn plain masks with the word Ne on top. Conclusively, you're a fake."

This made every other ninja in the clearing tense, preparing for a fight. The masked man remained still for some time before pulling out the tanto strapped to his back and getting into a stance while saying, "It seems you shall not cooperate."

"You're damn right we won't cooperate," Naruto responded, taking out his Plasma Cutter and pointing it at the man as his helmet reassembled around his head. Hanabi and Hinata followed suit, lifting their own guns. Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba, who had each taken one soldier pill from Hinata, stood up and prepared to fight, as did Sasuke. Gaara uncrossed his arms, while Temari took out her fan and opened it to the first moon.

"You're at a severe disadvantage here," Naruto commented, still pointing his Plasma Cutter. The man didn't respond. Instead, his muscles tensed a bit more before he suddenly disappeared from the Genin's view. Naruto had hardly blinked once in surprise before a foot slammed into his chest, making him cough in surprise and be sent flying back into a tree.

Kiba, ever the rash one, ran forward with Akamaru in tow, intending to pay the bastard back. However, he was unable to land any blows on the man as he had disappeared from his sight and, the next moment, the Inuzuka screamed in pain as his calf muscles were cut by the man's tanto, making him fall to the floor in a heap and watch helplessly as Akamaru tried to bite the man but was sent flying into the trees by a rough punch.

"That speed is incredible..." Sasuke commented lowly, watching the fight with his Sharingan. He could hardly track the man. When he had first attacked Naruto, all Sasuke had seen was a blur headed towards the armoured blonde. The same thing happened when he had attacked Kiba and Akamaru. It was only when Choji tried to attack the masked man, and was knocked out with a hit from the hilt of the tanto for his troubles; followed by Shikamaru, who attempted to capture him with his Kagemane but was unable to dodge the two kunai the man had thrown before dodging the shadow, which pierced his shoulders, rendering his arms useless; that Sasuke gathered his courage and chakra and jumped towards the man, drawing two kunai on the way. The masked man and the Uchiha started trading blows, Sasuke just barely keeping up with the man's sword strikes thanks to his bloodline. However, the constant use of chakra to his extremities to keep up with him soon got to Sasuke, making him more sluggish. A few strikes later, they had reached an impasse, Sasuke crossing his kunai in an X formation to hold back the man's tanto.

"Sasuke Uchiha, desist in your attempts. I have been told not to harm you, as that would be detrimental to Konoha. My targets are the two jinchūriki," the man said.

Sasuke growled at the man, not intending to give way in the slightest. He pumped his muscles and pushed the man back as hard as he could, breaking their contract point, before throwing the two kunai in the air and going through hand seals before shouting out, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

A medium-sized fireball flew from Sasuke's mouth and towards the stranger, who didn't move. The fireball exploded as it consumed the man's form, throwing debris here and there. Sasuke caught the two kunai as they fell and got back into his fighting stance, knowing that the fireball hadn't been enough to kill the man. However, he was not expecting the man to appear behind him and slap a sealing tag on his neck. Sasuke's energy immediately left his body, making him stumble forward before falling face-first into the ground, completely unconscious.

A few feet away, Naruto had just gotten up from where he had fallen and was shaking his head to clear it. He looked up in order to figure out what had happened, and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the unconscious forms of Akamaru, Sasuke, and Choji, along with the kneeling forms of Shikamaru, who had two kunai embedded into his shoulders, and Kiba, whose legs were bleeding profusely as he tried to drag himself over to Akamaru.

"Sasuke... Kiba... Akamaru... Choji... Shikamaru..."

Hinata was currently attempting to shoot the man with her Plasma Cutter, but he kept dodging her attacks. After several shots, the man disappeared and reappeared behind Hinata, grabbing her and holding her in a choke hold until she was unconscious. Her health bar had dropped to yellow and was bordering on red.

"Hinata-chan!"

Sakura and Ino attempted to jump away in order to head to the village and warn somebody, as they knew they were no good in this fight. It was for naught, as the man dashed in front of them and sent them both flying back into the clearing with two powerful punches, knocking them out almost instantly. Sakura hit a tree and fell face-first onto the ground while Ino skidded several feet before coming to rest directly at Naruto's feet.

"Sakura-chan! Ino-chan!"

The masked man began to walk up to Naruto, but was suddenly replaced with a log that had been punched through by a seeker shell. Hanabi, being several trees away, cursed and reloaded while using her Byakugan to look for the man, but was too slow to dodge the kick that he threw from behind her, which sent her on a collision course toward Naruto, who easily caught her.

"Hanabi-chan..."

"Damn... That guy hits hard..." the younger Hyūga said, coughing a bit.

"Hanabi-chan, heal yourself up. I need you to get everyone back in good condition. Understand?"

Hanabi nodded and pulled out a small health pack. Naruto looked back at Gaara and asked, "Would you like to help me with this one?"

Gaara nodded and flexed his hands, sending streams of sand towards the man, who dodged them easily. The redhead frowned and used more chakra, making the sand faster. However, it still couldn't grab hold of the masked man, making Gaara growl in frustration.

Naruto gathered his chakra and made a cross hand seal, calling out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In a large explosion of smoke, several copies of Naruto were now standing around him. They yelled as they ran towards the man, pulling out Plasma Cutters and kunai. The man was unfazed and simply ran towards them, going directly into their ranks. Several clones were dispatched almost immediately, while others held up against him for some time before also being killed. The clones with Plasma Cutters attempted to fire at the man from several directions, but he simply used a Kawarimi to escape and kept on killing the clones.

"Damnit..." Naruto said, gritting his teeth.

Temari ran forward and shot a large wave of wind towards the man, catching him and two clones off guard and sending them deeper into the woods. He reappeared a moment later, his armour slightly scratched but otherwise unharmed. The Suna kunoichi sent several more waves of cutting air at the man, but he dodged nimbly and appeared inside her guard, kicking her fan away before giving her an uppercut that sent her flying back into a nearby tree, knocking her out.

"Temari!" both Naruto and Gaara cried out.

Naruto growled, looking back at the man with unbridled anger. He reached inside himself for a way to beat the man, and soon came in contact with the Hakke no Fūin Shiki. With a simple command, he thrust himself into his seal, intending to talk to the Kyūbi.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 Inside Naruto's mindscape 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

_Naruto soon reappeared inside his mind, reaching the place where the Kyūbi resided. He was startled when he landed on a rocky, circular platform, at the end of which was a large cage. He turned around in order to study it more and froze in shock at the sight of the large Marker that was directly opposite to the cage, floating and twisting some ways away from the platform he was standing on._

_"No way..." the blonde muttered. He shook himself after a few moments and turned back to the Kyūbi's cage, where a lone, red eye was now looking at him._

_"Kyūbi."_

_"__**What do you want, boy?**__"_

_Naruto walked forward and stopped mere feet from the cage, retracting his helmet so that the chakra entity would see him better._

_"I'm in need of your help, Kyūbi," Naruto said, slightly surprising the kitsune at his almost reverent tone. "I'm sure you know about the masked man that's attacking my friends and I. I can't allow him to hurt them any longer, but I know I don't have the strength to take him on alone, which I'm sure is exactly why he was sent after me and Gaara. This is why I'm here. I want to ask for a bit of your chakra, just enough so I can keep up with him, even for a short time."_

_The Kyūbi looked back at Naruto, his visible eye unreadable. Finally, he said, "__**And what makes you think I'll just give it to you?**__"_

_"Nothing, really," Naruto admitted. "I just wanted to ask. I know that we're in a symbiotic relationship, and I'd rather it not be tainted any more than it already is by just forcing you to give it to me. But think about this: the masked man was ordered to get me and Gaara, so it's safe to assume that he wants you and the Ichibi. I can't allow that, as it would spell problems for Konoha and the world in general. In turn, who knows what they're planning to use you for? Please, Kyūbi."_

_The blonde ninja and orange chakra kitsune looked at each other for some time, neither willing to give way. Finally, Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, turning around and saying, "So be it."_

_He was about to exit his mindscape when he sensed a large amount of chakra approach him carefully and surround him, compacting around his body and giving him a red chakra cloak with two large ears and a lone, swinging tail behind him. He turned back to the cage in wonder only to see the Kyūbi with his back to him, his tails lying around him._

_"Kyūbi... thank you," Naruto said with a nod._ _Without another word, the boy closed his eyes and dissipated from the mindscape, leaving the Kyūbi alone once more._

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 In the outside world 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

The masked man began advancing carefully toward the two jinchūriki, ignoring Hanabi, who was currently patching up Kiba. Naruto was simply standing there with his head down, while Gaara was standing next to the blonde, panting slightly due to chakra exhaustion. The masked man held his tanto up and thrust it down at Naruto's head hilt-first, intending to knock the boy out.

To his surprise, Naruto's left arm shot up at blinding speed and grabbed the man's wrist, stopping his strike dead in its tracks. Steam was rising from the boy's body, and a second later, a red chakra cloak appeared around him, covering him completely. It began to burn the man's arm, so he wisely retracted it with a forceful jerk. Or, more appropriately, tried to, but was unsuccessful, as Naruto's grip was like steel.

With an animalistic roar, Naruto drew his right fist back and thrust it at the man's stomach. The man dodged by throwing his torso to the right (Naruto's left), dodging the strike. He did not expect Naruto to begin spinning to his left, using his grip on the man's wrist and the dodge manoeuvre to easily jerk him off his feet and spin him counter-clockwise at a dizzying speed before releasing his wrist and sending him flying into several trees. The man got up almost immediately, having used chakra to soften his crash, but had to immediately dodge the claw swipe Naruto thrust at him, which bisected the tree behind him and a two more behind that one. The man jumped back into the clearing, Naruto following him and landing in a feral stance a few feet away, his chakra tail swinging idly.

"Naruto Uzumaki, stand down. I have orders to bring you and the Ichibi jinchūriki to my master for the good of Konoha," the man stated.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he said, "_If _you survive, tell your master that kidnapping jinchūriki is _not _how you protect a village."

Without further ado, Naruto thrust his chakra tail into the ground, making the man jump as it blasted up from the ground on a collision course for his chest. The blonde jumped at the airborne man, swinging a clawed hand in an upward swing. The man moved his torso back, dodging the attack, but was not prepared for the red chakra shaped like a claw that followed about a second behind. The man thrust his hands out and shot as much chakra as was necessary to push himself away from the chakra claw, which was quite a bit for anyone not a jinchūriki. Noticing the manoeuvre, Naruto growled and roared in his direction, sending a blast of displaced air that the man was unable to dodge after having thrust his chakra out so roughly. It hit him directly on the stomach, sending him flying even higher, until the man was past the treetops and was soaring high above the forest. Naruto landed on a nearby tree and shot upwards in the man's direction, the tree branch he was standing on shattering into splinters.

As soon as he was close enough, Naruto sliced the air in the direction of the man's head, which the man blocked with his tanto. Naruto tried to attack him with his left hand, but it met the same result against a kunai the man had produced. He attempted a knee to the man's gut, but was foiled by the man's right knee. His left knee met the same resistance.

They traded blows similarly for a short while before finally passing through the treetops as they fell back to the ground. Naruto chose that moment to push away from the man forcefully, making the masked ninja lose his airborne balance momentarily. That was enough for Naruto to land against a tree and immediately shoot off again, using chakra to push himself toward the man hard enough to tackle him to the ground like a meteor.

Meanwhile, Naruto's friends, now patched up and revived by Hanabi and Hinata, were watching the battle with wide eyes.

"Amazing, is it not?"

All eyes went to Gaara, who was watching the battle without issue, having gotten used to ninja jumping all over the place in order to attack him. A moment later, he continued. "By my reckoning, Naruto is using much more bijū chakra than I was when I released the Ichibi, but not quite enough to fully match the tanuki."

"He has that much power sealed inside him?!" Choji asked.

"Much more, actually. Remember, the bijū he contains has eight more tails than mine," Gaara pointed out.

Everyone suddenly felt rather small in front of Naruto as the information sunk in their minds.

Back with the battle, Naruto and the masked ninja had been battling back and forth, tearing up the landscape quite a bit, until finally clashing a moment earlier and remaining in a deadlock, with Naruto using his claws to hold back the man's tanto. Unfortunately, that was the very same time that the chakra the Kyūbi had allocated for Naruto ran dry, making the cloak dissipate and subsequently making Naruto's strength wane, although not enough to be pushed back fully.

"No… No! No! Not now!" Naruto cried out, feeling the chakra cloak leaving him.

"It seems your power has waned," the man commented, cocking his head to the side slightly, "You now see that it is hopeless."

Naruto began bending backwards as the man put more force into his sword, the blade cutting into Naruto's palms as he tried to hold it back. Naruto was currently going through several plans, but none were processed completely.

_'__What do I do?! What do I do?!' _This was Naruto's repeated thought as he tried to find a way out of this. However, it just wasn't coming to him.

Just then, however, a voice Naruto barely recognised spoke in Naruto's mind, saying, _'Come on, kid, don't give up. Don't you remember the suit you're wearing?'_

Naruto's head snapped up, his eyes clearing. If ideas could manifest, a light bulb the size of the Hokage Tower would be hanging above his head.

In one smooth movement, Naruto pulled back his right hand from the blade and fished out a kunai from a storage seal on one of the armour pieces covering his ribs. He used it to hold back the man's tanto with better efficiency while moving his left hand directly in front of the man's stomach, palm out and fingers open wide. The masked ninja noticed and attempted to jump away, but was not expecting the blue bolt of energy that materialised on Naruto's palm and hit him on the stomach with a blue flash of light. Almost immediately, the man felt as if his body had been dunked in cold water, almost freezing his body's movements. Every movement seemed like it needed much more than the necessary amount of energy it should need.

"What… did… you… do… to… me…?" The man asked, his voice slowed substantially.

Naruto relaxed and stood over the man, saying, "It's called Stasis. Now, hold still." Naruto dashed quickly behind the man and sliced both of the man's calves, almost completely separating his feet from the rest of his body. The man only gave a loud, pained grunt before the blonde jammed the kunai into the man's hand and into the ground, pinning him to the floor.

"It's over…"

Naruto's friends approached quickly, surrounding him and the man in a large circle. Naruto nodded to each of them before kneeling in front of the man and waiting for the stasis to dissipate before saying, "Now, you're going to tell us just who the hell you are and who sent you."

The man did not move.

"Hey," Naruto said, slapping the man's head. Instead of a jerk, as he had expected, the head merely bobbed up and down for a moment before lolling uselessly. Frowning, Naruto grabbed the man's shoulder, pulled out the kunai embedded in the man's hand, and turned the body, taking the mask off.

The group was greeted by the sight of one of the most generic faces ever. Plain, short, brown hair, vacant dark eyes, a rough chin with some stubble growing, and a mouth with nearly perfect teeth.

Key word, _nearly_.

There was an indentation where the last upper molar to the left would normally be. Frowning, Naruto looked into the mouth of the man and was surprised and annoyed to find small pieces of what looked like red and black plastic scattered around it, already dissolving with the residual saliva in the mouth of the man.

"Son of a **bitch**!" Naruto yelled out, tossing the man's head to the side and standing suddenly while startling the Genin around him. "He took a fucking suicide pill!"

More curses followed Naruto's declaration. The blonde, in a fit of anger, kicked the body as hard as he could into a tree. This turned out to be a good thing, for as soon as the body impacted against the tree a few yards away, it suddenly exploded forcefully, sending Ino, Sakura, Choji, and Kiba down onto their butts from the shock while they all looked on with flabbergasted expressions.

"Good kick, Naruto," Hanabi said.

Naruto simply nodded in response.

"Naruto! Sakura! Sasuke!"

"Hey, that's Kakashi-sensei," Sakura noted.

"Oh, good," Naruto muttered sarcastically.

Lo and behold, Kakashi Hatake suddenly flew out of the bushes and landed square in front of them, a kunai drawn as his eyes focused on the two awake Suna ninja.

"What's happening here?" he asked authoritatively.

"Kakashi-sensei, calm your tits," Naruto said offhandedly, making the man face-plant. "Nothing's happened. We fought these two, then the Ichibi, then some strong ass ninja, then you came here."

"You guys fought a bijū?!" the silver-haired man asked in shock.

"Yeah, we did, as a team," Naruto said, throwing his hands out to point out the rest of the Rookie 9. "It was tough, but he wasn't at full power since some of his chakra was still inside Gaara's seal."

Kakashi's stance relaxed as he said, "Whew… well, that's good. Any injuries?"

"All taken care of," Hinata said, with Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sasuke nodding in affirmation.

"Good to know…" Kakashi trailed off, now noticing the armour that both Hinata and a younger Hyūga girl that looked like her were wearing.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said, drawing the Jōnin's attention. "Just after we had finished fighting back Gaara and the Ichibi, we got attacked by a masked ninja." This brought the man's full attention to the blonde. "He was wearing clothes and armour similar to that of the ANBU… but his mask was not from there. He also said that he had been given orders by his 'master' to take me and Gaara to him, for what I don't know."

"What did the mask look like, Naruto?" Kakashi asked seriously, his mind already reaching a bad conclusion. In response, Naruto pressed a button on his wrist that brought up a holographic image in mid-air. It showed the masked man in his Kenjutsu stance. "I figured as much…"

"Do you know who he was? He committed suicide through a pill just after I'd managed to stop him with Kyūbi's chakra, and his body was rigged with explosives that destroyed it completely," Naruto asked and explained.

"You took down an ANBU-level shinobi?" Kakashi asked in wonder.

"Well, yeah, with some help from the Kyūbi, like I said," Naruto reiterated.

Kakashi was now suddenly aware that Naruto had mentioned the kitsune twice and none of his classmates or the foreign Genin had batted an eyelid. "I told them about him after the battle with the Ichibi," Naruto said aloud, almost as if he had read his mind.

"And… how did they react?" Kakashi asked with some trepidation.

"Well, Shikamaru was quite accepting, saying that I had just cleared up a large puzzle in his mind. The others…" Here, Naruto stopped and turned to the Rookies, saying, "You know, I never did get our reactions about my tenant."

"I don't care," Hinata was the first to break the silence. "You're still the same Naruto-kun I know, and if the Kyūbi was fine with you taking some chakra in order to beat the man that wanted to take you away, then he's fine with me, the attack on the village notwithstanding."

"I'm with Onee-chan on that one," Hanabi piped up. "You're not a demon in any sense of the word, Naruto-kun. You were simply dealt a bad card in the game of life, but you've survived and you've become a great and strong guy, so you're fine with me."

"You already know my input," Shikamaru drawled.

"I'm with Shikamaru on this one," Choji said seriously. "You're still my ramen-eating buddy, jinchūriki or not. Besides, the fact that you haven't destroyed the village in this entire time proves that the Yondaime's seal is still working fine."

"Despite the fact that you and I didn't talk much during the Academy and even less during our time as Genin, something I'd like to change, you're still the lovable knucklehead of Konoha, Naruto, and that isn't gonna change at all anytime soon," Ino said with a smile.

"Like Ino said, you're still a complete knucklehead, Naruto, my man," Kiba said with a smirk, "You just also have a really strong chakra battery in your body, which kinda explains how you kept getting up during our match in the Prelims."

Akamaru backed Kiba up with a happy bark.

"To possibly feel animosity toward you because of an entity residing inside your body, one which you did not choose to bear, would be both hypocritical and illogical," Shino said, in his ever-stoic tone. "You are a worthy comrade, Naruto, and the Kyūbi will not taint my view of you."

"I have to admit," Sasuke began, "I was a little surprised to know about it. But despite that, you're still Naruto and still a dobe. So you're alright by me."

The only one left was Sakura, who was looking down at the ground with a look of both thoughtfulness and shame.

"Well, Forehead?" Ino asked.

"I…" Sakura sighed. "I don't hate you or resent you, Naruto. I just need to come to grips with the information. My parents were never supporters of you. Hell, my mom openly hated you, something I'm ashamed to say I got from her during my time in the Academy. But as we went on missions and trained together, I came to realize that you were just a sweet and lonely boy looking for someone to recognise you for you, and not the burden you carry. Despite the fact that I hurt you so much during the Academy and as Genin, I came to realise that you're one of the things I mostly looked forward to in the mornings. And for that… I want to say I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm so sorry for treating you so badly in the Academy."

Naruto smiled and walked up to her, putting a hand on her chin and lifting her head up so they could lock eyes. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her in a soft hug, one which she happily reciprocated. With a tentative voice, she asked, "You… you're not mad at me?"

"Not at all," Naruto laughed, pulling back and looking her in the eyes. "We're all naïve when young, and you're no exception. But what we can do now is just move forward, not dwelling in the past but working for a better future."

Sakura smiled a watery smile and nodded vigorously. Naruto smiled in return and looked at Kakashi, who was wearing a smile large enough to be seen through his mask.

"Is that good enough for you, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi nodded vigorously.

"Now that I remember," Naruto suddenly piped up, snapping his fingers. "I need to see jiji, pronto. I have to show him something Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, and I found during our training trip, plus I also need to talk to him about the masked Ne ninja."

Kakashi winced as two things were brought to the forefront of his mind. Naruto immediately caught it and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kakashi was slightly torn, but finally sighed and said, "Two things. First: I wanted to apologise for just throwing you to the wind for the month of the exams. I talked with Hokage-sama about it and he gave me quite a stern lecture. It was then that I realised that I've been a terrible teacher not just to you, but to Sakura as well."

"It's fine on my end, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto responded. "I thought about it as well and I came to realise that Gaara was definitely a worse opponent than Neji. Sharingan or no, Sasuke was going to need help. I also came to realise that I was just being a brat when I flipped out like that."

"I forgive you too, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said. "I just want for you to help us train better, and more as a team as well. This fight with Gaara and the Ichibi proves that I'm just not strong enough to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke anymore. In fact, I can hardly keep up with any of the other Rookies. Just help me train better, will you?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly, then remembered the second point in his mind and looked down slightly. "My second point is… much worse."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"When the invasion started, Hokage-sama was forced to fight Orochimaru, who had orchestrated the whole thing and had killed the Fourth Kazekage," Temari and Gaara stiffened, "and used his face as a disguise to sneak into Konoha unnoticed."

"Where are you going with this?" Naruto asked, a cold pit forming at the bottom of his stomach.

"Hokage-sama… fell in battle against Orochimaru."

Silence permeated the air.

"Heh... Yo-you're joking, right?" Naruto chuckled dryly, his mind immediately trying to push away the information it was given.

"No, Naruto... I'm not. Sandaime Hokage-sama is dead," Kakashi said, his head hung. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

The reactions around the clearing were mostly similar. The rookies, having known the elderly man well, were all shocked and sad. They knew the man to be an incredibly nice person, one who gladly put everyone in the village before himself. However, they also knew that only one person knew him better than most, and that was Naruto himself.

Naruto was not dealing with this well, that much was visible immediately. His eyes were grey and almost lifeless, despite the fact that he was shaking his head rather actively. He was sweating slightly, and his mouth was open and moving, yet no sound was coming out, as if he were trying to say something.

Naruto's world was crashing around him. He just couldn't accept it. The third Hokage, the grandfatherly man who gave him an apartment after he was kicked out of the orphanage; who gave him an allowance so he wouldn't starve and would have what he needed; who would periodically check on him to make sure he would be alright; who would always be available when he wanted to talk... one of his only friends...

Gone?

"No..." Naruto finally found his voice. "No, no... No, no, no, no... No, that can't be true... he can't be dead... he's such a strong man, he can't just have... died..."

As he spoke, he had been backing up slowly, cutting a path through the Genin behind him who turned to regard him with sympathetic eyes. Soon, his back hit a tree, making him stop in his tracks. But he kept backing up regardless, pushing himself up against the tree while he continued to mutter denials. Finally, he couldn't stay up, as his legs had lost all energy. He slid down the tree, his butt soon hitting the roots, where he sat and put his head in his hands, shaking it and continuing his mutterings.

"Naruto-kun...?" Hinata asked sadly, tears falling down her face at not just the news of the Hokage's death but at the breakdown her love interest was going through. She approached him slowly and knelt in front of him, putting her hand on his shoulder, making his head snap up abruptly, his eyes wild and searching.

"Hinata-chan, please, tell me it isn't true. I won't be mad, I promise. It's a joke, right? I mean, you have the Byakugan, you can look for him, right?!" Naruto asked desperately.

Hinata didn't answer, choosing to simply lock eyes with the boy. Naruto couldn't hold the stare, couldn't bear the truth in those sympathetic white eyes.

"Oh, Naruto-kun," Hinata moaned in a low voice, wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to cry against her. Naruto took the offer gladly, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face on her chest while at the same time letting loose the floodgates of his eyes, releasing all of the pent up sadness inside him. His wounded cries startled his comrades, who could only look on in shock at the breakdown the happiest of their ranks was going through. Hanabi, Sakura, and Ino began to cry again at the sight, while the guys looked either down or away, not wanting to bear the sight but unable to drown out the sorrowful cries of the blonde jinchūriki. Kakashi also turned away, not being able to bear the sight of a crying and heartbroken boy who looked so much like his sensei. Gaara and Temari only looked at Naruto with sympathetic looks, knowing now just how big a part the Sandaime Hokage played in Naruto's life. The news of their father's death hadn't been a big shocker, as they both hated the man for what he had done to Gaara and their mother Karura.

Sometime later, Naruto stopped crying but didn't release Hinata, afraid that if he did, she would disappear as well. Hinata gladly kept him in her embrace, wanting to give him all the comfort he could take. It wasn't until Naruto spoke up that she realized that he had pulled her onto his lap by tightening his grip on her waist.

"How… did he die?" Naruto asked in a hollow voice, looking up at his Jōnin-sensei.

"Naruto, I don't think that would be good fo-," Kakashi started, only to be interrupted by Naruto.

"How did he die?!" the blonde asked, a bit more forcefully this time.

The silver-haired Jōnin realised that Naruto wouldn't take anything but the truth, so he hung his head and explained in a detached voice, "By the report, Hokage-sama used the Shiki Fūjin, the same seal your f- the Yondaime Hokage used to seal the Kyūbi inside you, to try and seal away Orochimaru's soul in the Shinigami's stomach, along with the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, who Orochimaru reincarnated with a kinjutsu. But he was not strong enough to seal them all, so he was only able to take away the souls of Orochimaru's arms, rendering him incapable of using any jutsu."

"Where's Orochimaru?" Naruto asked.

"I'm afraid to say he escaped with the help of four of his subordinates."

Naruto growled in anger and took his right hand off of Hinata's waist in order to punch the tree behind him in frustration.

"Damn you, Orochimaru… I will make you pay for doing this. I won't let jiji's sacrifice go to waste!"

Naruto stood up, bringing Hinata up with him. Everyone watched as his helmet reassembled around his head and he asked, "Kakashi-sensei, what happened to my Kage Bunshin?"

"They were still helping out around the village, last I knew," Kakashi explained. "What with their armour and weapons, they were really nigh indestructible. I think by now they'd be done rounding up the rest of the invaders."

Kakashi was right, for at that moment, Naruto received the mental feedback of fifty reinforced Kage Bunshin dispelling all at once, making all of their memories up to that point be shoved into Naruto's head. The blonde yelled out at the sudden pain in his head before he passed out and flopped face-first to the floor, unable to remain awake due to the mental fatigue.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata and Hanabi cried, immediately running to him. The others were a split-second slower, but eventually they all crowded around the unconscious blonde.

"What in the world happened to him?" Kiba asked.

"I thought this would happen," Kakashi sighed. "You see, a little-known fact about the Kage Bunshin is that whatever the Bunshin learns will be transferred to the original once the Bunshin disperses. With fifty clones working at once for so long, plus the amount of fatigue Naruto accumulated through the battles today, the mental knockback would undoubtedly put a lot of strain on his mind."

"Will he be okay?" Sakura asked fretfully.

"He'll be fine," Kakashi assured her. "He just needs a good night of sleep, so how about we head back to the village?"

When everyone agree, Kakashi picked up Naruto in a fireman's carry and began to walk back to the village, not wanting Naruto to be tossed around by tree jumping. The Genin all followed, Gaara taking the time to pick up Kankuro with his sand. Hinata and Hanabi stayed close to Kakashi the entire time, watching as Naruto's health bar fluctuated between light blue and pure green.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 Inside Naruto's Mindscape 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

_"__Oh, kami, what happened?" were the first words out of Naruto's mind as he once again woke up in his mindscape. He rubbed his uncovered face and was about to force himself up when a gloved hand entered his vision. Surprised, he took it and allowed the person to pull him to his feet, whereupon he was dealt a surprise._

_In front of him was a man, somewhat taller than he was. The man was wearing a RIG suit similar to the one he had on, an Advanced Suit, although his was coloured blue with orange sections._

_"__Who are you?" Naruto asked guardedly, wondering how this man got into his mindscape._

_"__Ah, yeah, I guess introductions are in order," the man said in a familiar voice. As the man pressed a button on his left wrist and his helmet began retracting, Naruto suddenly realised that the voice was the same that reminded him about his suit's capabilities while he was fighting the masked Ne man._

_The helmet finally finished retracting and was stored in the suit, giving Naruto a full view of a bearded face, green-blue eyes, and slightly greying black hair. _

_"__Isaac?!" _


	4. Chapter 4

_"Isaac Clarke, in the flesh," Isaac says, nodding his head at the young Uzumaki in front of him. He thinks for a moment before saying, "Well, no, not in the flesh. I'm fairly sure that this is your mind, so more like in the image, or in the thought."_

_"H-how are you here? You died! And you were turned into a slasher! And I killed you! And..." Naruto trails off, simply not understanding what was going on._

_"I know about all that, Naruto. I've been able to watch your progress from in here. Some of the things you ninja can do is insane. But, to be honest, kid, I don't know either. I just remember being hurt and bleeding out, then everything went dark. Next thing I know, I open my eyes and I'm in here, being faced down by foxy back there," Isaac explains, pointing behind him at the Kyūbi's cage, behind the bars of which the Kyūbi is looking at the pair with confusion and frustration. _

**_"You must be either very brave or very foolish to refer to me with such a name," _**_the Kyūbi growls. __**"Do you not know who I am?"**_

_"You're a massive fox with nine tails, that I already know," Isaac says, looking back at the Fox. "And I've faced creatures of your size before, so you're not really all that shocking."_

_"You have?" Naruto asks._

_"Oh, yeah," Isaac responds, "The Hive Mind on Aegis 7, for example. You remember?"_

_Images flash by Naruto's eyes, of a battle between Isaac and the massive necromorph. Of the flailing tentacles; of shooting the yellow spots; of killing it and escaping the planet by a hair's breadth..._

_"Seems like you do," Isaac says._

_"Yeah... that battle was insane..." Naruto says in a low voice. _

_"It sure was," Isaac agrees. He looks around for a moment before saying, "Now, what is this place, exactly?"_

_"This is my mindscape," Naruto explains. "It's a manifestation of what my mind looks like. The first time I came in here, which was a few minutes ago, it looked like this." Pointing behind him, Naruto says, "What I really want to know is why there's a huge Marker in my mind."_

_"I'd like to know that myself," Isaac ponders._

_"So, Isaac," Naruto says after they settle down on some rocks nearby, "since you're here, tell me about yourself. All I know is that you're an engineer and quite smart, and that you've survived two necromorph outbreaks."_

_Isaac pondered a bit before answering. "Well, to start off, I'm an only child. My father Poul Clarke left on a mission some time in my youth, leaving me with my mother, Octavia. She, however, was a devout Unitologist... Do you know what they are?"_

_Naruto wracked his brains but couldn't bring up the info, so he shook his head._

_"Unitology is a religion based on those things," Isaac explains, pointing at the Marker in Naruto's mind. "The way I understand it, they believe that the Markers are divine and will bring them salvation by uniting them in mind, body, and spirit." Here, Isaac spits in disgust. "But they are wrong. The only thing the Markers do is spread chaos and breed monsters. But back on track, my mom was deeply into Unitology. Without my father around, she became obsessed with it, paying higher and higher amounts of money to gain bigger titles in the Church, which is the only way to get them. Soon, she ended up selling most of our estate to purchase a Vested-level title, one of the highest... But that kind of spending left us strapped for money. Because of that... I couldn't attend my number one college, and had to settle for a much lower school."_

_"Wow... your mom's not winning any 'Mother of the Year' awards anytime soon, is she?"_

_"I don't think so... Either way, I didn't let that stop me. I did my best with what I had, and pretty soon I graduated at the top of my class. Sometime later, I got a job with the Merchant Marines, working as a systems engineer. I stayed there for some time, then started working with the Concordance Extraction Corporation, or-,"_

_"The CEC," Naruto finished._

_"Yep. That's where I met my first long-time girlfriend... Nicole Brennan."_

_"Nicole..." Naruto whispered, the name sounding both familiar and sad to the blonde._

_"Yeah. We worked together at home, she as a medic, and me as an engineer. Pretty soon, she got offered a job in the USG Ishimura, a Planet cracker. Do you know it?"_

_"Mostly. That's where you first encountered the necromorphs, right?"_

_"Hold your horses, I'm getting to that," Isaac says with a smile. "But yeah, she got offered a job there as a Senior Medical Officer. She didn't want to accept at first, not wanting to leave me alone at home, considering my career was staying to wane by then. But I knew that something like that was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I convinced her that I'd be fine and that she should take the job. Well, she did, and she was away for a long time…"_

_Isaac paused here, his eyes gaining a misty look as he thought about the blonde Medical Officer. Even to this day, it was hard to think of her. Being with Ellie calmed those thoughts for a while, but when the pilot left, all the memories came back, with thoughts of Ellie also added to the mix. Isaac shook his head, ridding his head of those thoughts, before continuing._

_"__Anyway, she was gone for a while, and during that time I focused on my work and talked with her sometimes by video chat. But… after six months or so, the CEC received news that the Ishimura had gone dark. There was no contact of any kind that could be made with the ship. Knowing that Nicole was there, I immediately volunteered to go on the mission to check out what the matter was, and was given the ok. Along with computer specialist Kendra Daniels, Commander Zach Hammond, and two security guards, we took off toward the Ishimura._

_"__When we got there… it was a mess. No lights were on, the communications array was busted, and the Automatic Docking was so broken that we had to crash-land the ship inside the Flight Deck... then, after we entered the Flight Deck's waiting room, I pulled up a diagnostic of the ship via a nearby console. It showed that the Ishimura had taken a lot of damage. We were suddenly attacked, and lost the two security guards with us. Kendra and Hammond survived, and I just barely made it by escaping down a hallway. Just before meeting up with Kendra and Hammond again, I got my first weapon, something I used often, just not as a weapon."_

_"__The Plasma Cutter," Naruto stated._

_"__Yep. The very same. It's a handy weapon, I'll tell you that. It's gotten me out of more than one pinch. But back to the story, the three of us decided to fix the Ishimura so we could get the hell out of there. As I went all around the ship, I began to piece together what happened to the Ishimura. A necromorph outbreak had begun, like you said. It started on the planet when they uncovered a Red Marker that had been buried there by the government. It was one of their experiments… and when the chaos began, the ship's captain, Benjamin Matthius, ordered a quarantine and stated that no one was to come into the ship from the planet. That order was tested a lot, as several ships attempted to come into the ship… and one succeeded. To make matters worse, it was carrying an infector, the very same necromorph that turned my body into one of them. Pretty soon, the Ishimura went down, and then my team and I came in._

_"__I soon met one of the survivors: a doctor named Challus Mercer. He was a Unitologist, and a really devout one, but he was also a scientist, and he wanted to find out just how the necromorphs worked. Due to his experiments, he created one of the worst necromorphs I've ever faced… the Hunter, a regenerating necromorph."_

_"__A regenerator?!" Naruto asked._

_"__Yep. Nothing I did would kill it. It would just regrow its limbs and come after me again. It was harrowing to get away from it, but I managed. To add to the problems, the Ishimura's air supply was being tainted by a gigantic necromorph that had settled in Food Storage. So, naturally, I was tasked with killing it."_

_"__What was it like?" Naruto asked._

_Isaac smiled said, "I'll show you." He then closed his eyes. To Naruto's surprise, a video log popped up in front of them, showing the Hydroponics deck of the Ishimura in first-person view._

_"__What is this?" Naruto said. "RIGs can record live feeds?"_

_"__No, this is actually a memory of mine. I figured that, if this was your mindscape, just about anything was possible, so ta-da!" Isaac explained. They both turned to the video, and Naruto watched with trepidation as the camera moved around, going to the east wing of the deck and taking out the Wheezers that were contaminating the air. At one point Isaac stopped the video. On the screen was what seemed to be a hallway that was filled to the brim with corruption, making the simple act of walking a hassle. Isaac pointed to some broken monitors and said, "Nicole popped up on these and said, 'Make us whole', a sentence I still don't understand. The Marker's signal was messing with my mind, showing me the image of Nicole in the hopes that I'd help it." The video continued, showing Nicole indeed appearing in the monitors. A mere moment later, a tentacle appeared and grabbed onto Isaac's foot, dragging him down the corridor, but Isaac was quick to react, and shot several plasma bolts into the yellow sac around the middle of the tentacle, severing it and making it retract. The video continued, showing Isaac traversing the west wing as well, then finally going up to the door to Food Storage and unlocking it, traversing a short hallway, and finally coming to a door that was covered with small corruption tentacles. Isaac placed a poison canister on a nearby slot and watched as the tentacles retreated with a hiss. Naruto was sure it couldn't be that easy, and was proven right when an audio transmission popped up and a woman's voice yelled out, "Damnit! The poison wasn't strong enough! Isaac, get in there and kill it before it contaminates the whole deck!"_

_"__Who's that?" Naruto asked._

_"__Kendra Daniels, the computer specialist I told you about earlier."_

_They both shut up as they watched Isaac enter the Food Storage chamber. The image that greeted Naruto was one he wouldn't forget anytime soon. The Leviathan was like a huge parasite, a mass of tentacles that was glued to the far wall. As soon as Isaac walked in, what seemed to be the mouth opened up and let out a scream, showing that it had a small core floating inside its mouth, presumably its weak spot. To Naruto's dismay, three large tentacles sprouted from holes around the mouth, which attempted to squash Isaac. Naruto watched with awe as Isaac deftly dodged the tentacles, using the zero-g environment to his advantage by jumping around the tentacles and severing them. The mouth screamed again and began to spit out globs of… something… at Isaac, who used Kinesis to grab them and hurl them back at the creature, eventually hitting the core inside. The Leviathan yelled again and three new tentacles sprouted from around it, making Isaac have to work harder in order to dodge both the tentacles and the globs that the Leviathan was spitting out. _

_Soon, however, Isaac triumphed, his final shot being an explosive canister that was floating around, which he had grabbed and thrown into the Leviathan's mouth, destroying the core. The Leviathan gave out one last screech before the mouth and remaining tentacles went limp, showing that he had finally killed it._

_"__Damn…" Naruto commented as Isaac paused the video. "That was insane. I don't think I'd have been half as brave as you at that point, Isaac."_

_"__Yeah, well, I was a driven man. I was going to find Nicole and get the hell off that ship, and no giant tentacle monster was going to stop me!" Isaac said in a triumphant voice. Both guys chuckled at Isaac's declaration before he continued the video. _

_An audio transmission popped up, with Kendra once again contacting Isaac and congratulating him on killing the Leviathan. She tried to contact Hammond as well, but wasn't able to, so she told Isaac to make his way to the Mining Deck, where an S.O.S. beacon was located. She explained that they could use that to send out a distress signal, and hopefully a ship would pick it up and rescue them before they were killed by the necromorphs. _

_The entire story followed. Isaac showed Naruto, through memories, explanations, and video transmissions, what had happened to him in the Ishimura. The battles with the Hunter; the Nicole hallucinations on the Mining Deck; the Valor and its downfall; the death of Hammond; contacting and meeting up with Kyne; finally killing the Hunter, followed by its creator; finally finding the Marker inside the ship's cargo and loading it into a shuttle; Kyne's death and Kendra's betrayal; hallucinating about Nicole again, although this time with her helping Isaac call back the shuttle and board it; dragging the Marker through several rooms, then onto its designated spot; Nicole's hallucination disappearing as the Marker destroyed all the necromorphs nearby; Kendra's reappearance and explanation; the video of Nicole, showing that she had killed herself some time before Isaac had come to the Ishimura (Isaac had to hold back tears as he remembered this); the Hive Mind's appearance, and it killing Kendra; the final battle; Isaac finally killing the beast and escaping the planet; the planet's destruction as the large piece of rock the Ishimura had taken out of it crashed back onto the planet; taking off his helmet for the first time in a long time; and finally, the jump-scare with the Nicole hallucination that knocked him out._

_Naruto sat back as Isaac closed the video feed, going through everything that he had seen. Moments later, he voiced his thoughts. "That's a hell of a story, Isaac. How did you remain sane through all that?"_

_"__I guess I had a focus," Isaac mused. "I was so concerned about Nicole and about finding her that I paid attention to almost nothing else. It paid off in the end, but about three years later, I think I really did lose my mind."_

_"__What do you mean?" Naruto asked._

_"__Do you know about Titan Station?" Isaac asked._

_Naruto wracked his brains once again and could only bring up vague images and sounds. "Is that the place where your second necromorph outbreak started?"_

_"__Yep. I was taken to it by a man named Hans Tiedemann, who was the Director of the station. They put me inside the insane asylum of Titan, and I was there for three years… until the necromorph outbreak began again. You see, the Aegis 7 Marker had left me with a blueprint of the Marker itself, meaning that I now had the means of making them… and destroying them. Tiedemann took advantage of that, using a machine to extract the necessary codes from my brain and using them to make another Marker."_

_Isaac focused and pulled up another video feed, this one showing his memories of the outbreak of Titan Station. Naruto once again watched as Isaac was woken by a man named Franco, who was killed and infected by an Infector; Franco turning into a slasher right in front of his eyes; narrowly escaping the section of the hospital and asylum he was in; being contacted by Daina; putting together a makeshift Plasma Cutter (Naruto had to give several points to Isaac for his skill on that one); finally finding a store where he could find a suit to wear; fighting his first Tripod; following Daina's directions in order to reach her, all the while being contacted by Stross; seeing several Nicole hallucinations (with Nicole slowly getting more aggressive); ending up in the Church of Unitology; nearly being killed by himself due to another hallucination of Nicole; finally reaching Daina, only to realize she was a Unitologist and only wanted Isaac for the Marker codes in his brain; the EarthGov ship killing Daina and her men; the battle with the Tormentor; Stross's revelation that the Marker was in the Government Sector; finding Ellie (Isaac closed his eyes when he saw the image of the pilot, feeling his sadness at their breakup returning); entering Titan Elementary; being accused by another Nicole hallucination; Ellie contacting him and telling him she found Stross; the trio meeting up in the Transport Hub; Tiedemann cutting the power, and the subsequent battle with the Brute; going up to the Solar Array; watching as Stross's mind eroded further and further due to the Marker's influence; finally activating the Solar Array; the HALO jump (Naruto admitted to Isaac that that was, by far, his most badass moment ever, to which Isaac bashfully thanked him); having to enter the CEC building in order to find shelter after Tiedemann blows up the Transport Hub; traversing the building in order to find the industrial transport; several rather aggressive Nicole hallucination; seeing the Ishimura again, then having to enter it when Tiedemann uses the Solar Array beam to destroy the tracks leading to the Government Sector; traversing the Engineering Deck, centrifuge, Medical Deck, and Captain's nest once again; leaving the Ishimura through an escape pod; Stross's attack on Ellie; Stross's next attack, this one on Isaac himself, forcing the man to kill Stross; the confrontation with Nicole, which makes Isaac finally accept his guilt about Nicole's death; finding Ellie standing next to a giant drill, which they repair in short order; traversing the bowels of the Government Sector with the drill; sending Ellie away on a gunship, and the subsequent calm talk with Nicole; entering GovSec, then nearly being gunned down by Tiedemann's forces; escaping through a nearby vent and cutting power to the section he's in, thus letting in a horde of necromorphs that butcher Tiedemann's forces; navigating GovSec with Nicole's guidance; finding the Marker Site, where a massive Gold Marker is sitting; using the machine to unlock the Marker-addled part of his brain, thus releasing his memories; following Nicole down to the marker while avoiding the Ubermorph that attacks him; confronting and killing Tiedemann; the battle with Nicole and the Marker inside his mind, ending with Isaac destroying both, which, Isaac explains, cures him from his dementia while leaving the Marker codes in his brain; accepting his death, but being narrowly rescued by an affronted Ellie; escaping the Titan Station explosion; and finally, expecting to see another hallucination to his right after the escape but only seeing a smiling Ellie. _

_Naruto lays down on his back as the video feed closes once again, processing everything he's seen. It once again felt surreal, like a dream really. But he knew it wasn't. It was all real, and the experience Isaac had gained through his battles had transferred over to him…_

_"__Wow, Isaac… that's all I can say. You've lived a rough couple of years lately…"_

_"__You're damn right I have," Isaac agrees. "I still can't believe this has happened to me. I'm just an engineer, and yet I've had to battle undead corpses, giant creatures, dementia, and government security. It's insane."_

_"__Hey," Naruto says, a stray thought crossing his mind, "what happened to you and Ellie after you guys escaped?"_

_Isaac looks down at the question, but after a minute, answers anyways. "Considering we were both on the run from EarthGov, we… decided to stick together. We reached the New Horizons Lunar Colony stationed on Earth's moon, where we managed to lay low for a while. We got ourselves patched up, and got Ellie a new eye. Things were going great, and they became even better when Ellie and I started a relationship. But… things couldn't stay good forever, not for me. Ellie was sure there were other Markers out there and wanted to destroy them, but I was completely against it. I didn't want to get pulled back into that mess. We fought a few times, and finally… she broke it off and left…"_

_"__Oh… I'm sorry…" Naruto whispers._

_"__No, don't be. It's no one's fault but mine," Isaac assures him. "Some months after she left, New Horizons was attacked by Unitologists led by Jacob Danik. They were taking over the other colonies and trying to destroy EarthGov due to their experiments on the Marker, but they were also looking for me, since I was the only one who ever managed to destroy a Marker. And not just one, but two, so you can imagine what they thought of me. I managed to escape the colony just in time, using the same ship that Ellie and I had escaped Titan Station with, which we had placed in storage on a station nearby. But Danik had released another Marker by that point, and an Infector had managed to stow aboard my ship. I remember that we were already some distance away from the colony when it struck, catching me by surprise and slashing open my stomach before I could react. I was about to be killed by it, but it seems that the Marker signal got too weak by that point, since the thing just stopped moving and flopped uselessly on the floor. I managed to hold my entrails in long enough to set some random coordinates in the ship's autopilot and leave one last recorded message before I died…"_

_They remained silent for some time, simply lost in their thoughts, before what sounded like a foghorn rang out around them._

_"__The hell is that?" Naruto asked, standing up immediately. Isaac quickly follows and looks around. In the end, they both focus on the floating Marker, which is spinning ominously, faster and faster, until finally, it glows and sends out a shockwave that nearly sends both Naruto and Isaac to the ground._

_"__What the hell is it doing?" Naruto asks._

_"__I don't know!" Isaac articulately responds._

_Several roars ring out around them, along with the sounds of screams… familiar screams…_

_"__Oh no! My friends!" Naruto yells out, closing his eyes and focusing. With a small flash, he disappears from the mindscape. Isaac focuses and brings up a large screen that shows Naruto's view in a live feed. What he sees is horrifying in its familiarity._

_"__Another necromorph outbreak…"_

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 Outside 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

"Hit them with all you've got!" Kakashi yells to his fellow ninja as the face down the monsters that had appeared in the village.

The travel from the forest to Konoha had been calm and quiet up until the point where Kakashi's earpiece had crackled to life. From it, the sounds of chaos had come, along with the voice of his ex-ANBU comrade Yuugao yelling to him that they were under attack again. Kakashi had told the others to hurry, taking to the trees in order to reach Konoha quickly. When they arrived… it was terrifying.

Bloody corpses were moving all around the village, attacking civilians and ninja alike. The bodies were horribly disfigured, with hunched backs, bloody and broken faces, and bladed arms sprouting from their backs. Worst of all, the clothing was still visible under the blood that covered them, and the clothes showed that most of the undead corpses were dead Suna and Oto invaders, somehow reanimated. Even some of the Konoha ninja that had fallen during the invasion were reanimated and were attacking the people. Kakashi quickly lifted his headband, displaying his Sharingan, and studied the creatures as the Genin around him looked on in shock and horror. To Kakashi's surprise, the corpses were moving very quickly, close to Chūnin-speed if his eyes didn't deceive him. While that wasn't overly fast to an experienced Jōnin like him, to civilians and some Genin, it posed quite a threat.

A cat-masked ANBU quickly appeared next to him, saying in a female voice, "Kakashi-sempai, you finally made it."

"What's the situation?" Kakashi asks without preamble.

"We're not sure. The bodies that were on the streets after the invasion ended suddenly began... changing, about five minutes ago by my count. Some of them became tall, bloody monsters with two bladed arms. Those are aggressive as all hell, and only want to kill. Others became bat-like creatures, who seem to only want to infect regular bodies."

"Slashers and Infectors…" Hinata and Hanabi whisper.

"You know what these things are?" Kakashi asks, turning to them.

"Naruto does, and he explained it to us. These things are called necromorphs. They're literally reanimated bodies. Like you said, Neko-san, there are only two known varieties: ones that infect corpses, and ones that… make corpses to infect."

At that moment, a slasher appeared from the trees around them and dashed towards them at rapid speeds, bellowing incoherently. Hinata, with her Javelin Gun in hand, was about to shoot a javelin into it, but Kakashi beat her to it, throwing a kunai with perfect precision that hit the neck of the corpse and took its head clean off, making it stumble back.

"Well, that's that," Kakashi said, but he had spoken too soon, as the beast simply shuddered and continued running toward them. Kakashi was shocked at the continued movement of the beast when, by all means, it should be dead, so Hinata took the reins and shot a javelin into its body, electrifying it until it fell.

"Whoa…" Kiba whispered. "These things don't go down easily."

"You have to aim for the limbs," Hanabi explained. "These creatures don't have the same weak spots that humans do. If you take off their heads, they'll still keep attacking you blindly. If you take off its legs, it will crawl towards you. You have to take out as many limbs as possible before it gets to you."

Kakashi, Neko, Sasuke, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Gaara nodded. Ino, Sakura, Choji, and Temari were still too shocked to say anything.

"Alright everyone, we're going to split up in our normal groups. Team Ten, find Asuma and get your orders. Team Eight, same for you. Team Seven, your orders are simple. Take out as many of these monsters as you can! The faster you do it, the better. Go!" Kakashi ordered.

Everyone nods and splits off, with Hanabi following her sister. Temari and Gaara set Kankuro on a safe place and jumped toward the village, planning to take out as many of these necromorphs as possible. Kakashi and Neko jump away, headed to where the current ANBU commander was. This leaves Team Seven standing at the clearing.

"Well, shall we get going?" Sasuke asks.

"What about… Naruto?" Sakura asks, turning to where Naruto should be, only to come face to face with the blonde already up and alert, reloading his Plasma Cutter.

"Let's go! There's no time to waste!" Naruto says, already jumping toward the nearest building. Sasuke and Sakura quickly follow, the latter still confused as to when Naruto woke up.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 With Team 8 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

"Hinata, can you find Kurenai-sensei?" Kiba asks.

"Already on it, Kiba-kun," Hinata says, her Byakugan flaring to life under her helmet. After a minute, she finally finds her sensei being attacked by four slashers.

"She's that way!" Hinata exclaims, pointing to their left. "She's being attacked!"

The team quickly picks up the pace, arriving moments later to the scene. Kurenai was currently leaning against a building, all four slashers crowded around her in a semicircle. One of them slashed at her neck, but she blocked the attack with a kunai and pushed the arm back. She stabbed another on the stomach, but was dismayed when the attack had no effect. She was forced to pull back her arm, lest she lose it. All four of them attempted to attack and once, and she was just preparing to counter, but was interrupted when several small explosions rang out. The necromorphs' limbs suddenly begin to fall off, with the beasts roaring each time they lost a limb. Moments later, the necromorphs were lying dead in front of her, their arms and legs cut off at the base of each.

"What the…?" Kurenai asks a moment before her team appears in front of her.

"Are you ok, Kurenai-sensei?" an armoured person in front of the team asks in a familiar voice.

"Hinata?" Kurenai asks in surprise.

Hinata retracts her helmet and gives Kurenai a smile. "Yes, Kurenai-sensei, it's me."

"What… what are you wearing?" Kurenai asks.

"It's a suit of armour, Kurenai-sensei. I'll go into more detail later," Hinata insists. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Kurenai assures her. "What the heck are these things?"

Hinata quickly explains what the necromorphs are and their weak spots as Hanabi and the rest of the team keep watch.

"So the only way to kill them is to dismember them?"

"Well, that's not the only way, but it's the fastest. Their weak spots are their limbs, it seems."

"Alright then, let's get moving. You guys are specialized in tracking, so I want to you focus on finding surviving civilians and get them to shelter. And… who are you?" Kurenai asks Hanabi, who retracts her helmet.

"Hanabi Hyūga, Kurenai-san," Hanabi states politely.

"Ah, yes, Hinata's sister. Since you also have the Byakugan, could you help them out?" Kurenai asks.

"I was going to do that regardless," Hanabi says, assembling her helmet once again. With a nod, Kurenai and the team of five split off to do their duties.

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 With Team 10 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

"Can you find Asuma-sensei, Ino?" Shikamaru asks, kneeling with his teammates on a rooftop.

"One sec," Ino responds, going down on one knee and placing her hands in the Ram hand seal. Choji and Shikamaru stood at either side of her to protect her from any threats. Unexpectedly, however, Ino suddenly screamed and fell onto her back, eyes staring blankly at the sky and mouth open in a silent scream.

"Ino? Ino?!" Shikamaru yells, turning to the blonde and kneeling by her, with Choji keeping guard. He shakes her a little but she doesn't respond. Instead, Shikamaru can just barely hear her whisper the same words over and over.

"Make us whole… make us whole… make us whole…"

"Ino, wake the hell up!" Shikamaru exclaims, slapping her. That finally shocks her back to the living, and she sits up abruptly, nearly slamming her face against Shikamaru's.

"Shika… what happened?" Ino asks, looking around.

"That's what I'd like to know. You suddenly screamed and went limp on us, whispering 'Make us whole'."

Ino shivered for a moment then said, "I don't think I should be using my Mind Search jutsu here. These necromorphs… they're all being directed by something… something vast… I nearly got lost in the depths of the consciousness I touched…"

Shikamaru frowns in sympathy and gives her some time to recover. Meanwhile, Choji spots a slasher ambling towards them and immediately throws several kunai, which pierce the creature's neck and shoulders, felling it.

"That was easy," Choji comments. Not a moment later however, two more jump onto the rooftop and dash toward them, startling him.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" Choji exclaims, increasing the size of his fist and punching one of the necromorphs, sending it flying to kingdom come. Unfortunately, that gives the other ample time to reach him, and it leans back in order to slice Choji to pieces… and freezes there.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success," Shikamaru states, standing slowly. The necromorph struggles to get free, nearly breaking Shikamaru's concentration, but the Nara heir stays strong and moves his right arm over his left, making a slashing motion. The necromorph roars as it's forced to slash off its own arm, but that's as far as Shikamaru gets as the slasher forces itself to move, breaking the jutsu. By that time, however, Choji had recovered and sliced off the slasher's other arm with a kunai, killing it.

"These things are so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, turning to Ino. "You doing ok, Ino?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ino assures him, standing up. "Let's find Asuma-sensei."

A few minutes later, the team finally finds their sensei slicing apart several necromorphs with his knives. The man seems to be doing rather well, slicing one necromorphs head and arms off with one swipe before turning and nailing another one to a wall by throwing his left knife, which he quickly retrieves in order to slice apart the last necromorph there.

"Asuma-sensei!" the three clan heirs exclaim as the land in front of him.

"Oh, there you three are," Asuma says, lighting up a cigarette. "You guys holding up alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Shikamaru assures him. "Any orders for us?"

"Well, you guys are already pretty good in team tactics, so find as many of these undead as you can and lay them to waste! We can't allow them to kill any more people!"

"Hai!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>0o0o0o0o0o0 With Team 7 0o0o0o0o0o0<em>**

Team 7 had reached one of the main squares of Konoha, this one being almost directly in the middle of the village. This was the point where the necromorph activity was at its highest, and it showed, as several slashers were battling with Chūnin and Jōnin all around. Naruto could make out the crazy proctor lady Anko and the first exam proctor Ibiki amongst the Jōnin that were fighting.

"What is this?" Naruto whispers.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sakura asks.

"These necromorphs… they're faster and stronger than the ones I know…" Naruto says.

"Stronger and faster?" Sasuke asks inquisitively.

"Yeah… must be the Marker. It's probably using the leftover chakra inside the bodies to boost the power of the necromorphs," Naruto reasons. "Either way, we have to help these guys! Sasuke, you're with me! Sakura, try and set up some traps around the square, and take out as many as you can!"

"Hai!"

"Hn."

The team splits, Naruto and Sasuke diving into the fray while Sakura jumps toward the nearest street to begin her plan.

Naruto lands first, right in front of a slasher that notices him immediately. He quickly lifts his Plasma Cutter and takes off both of its arms, killing it instantly and drawing the attention of the other combatants.

"Everyone, take off their limbs! Dismember them! That's the only way they go down for good!"

"Hai!" several Chūnin and Jōnin call out, immediately following the advice. Naruto turns and brings his up his Plasma Cutter, slicing off the limbs of several slashers before they could react. The slashers around them realize that there's another threat and begin to attack Naruto, who pulls out a kunai with his left hand and prepares himself for the fight.

Sasuke, meanwhile, turns to a group of slashers that had just ran into the square from a nearby street. Pulling out two kunai and activating his Sharingan, Sasuke runs to up to the first one and quickly takes off its head and left arm, felling it. Before the body has even touched the ground, Sasuke is already onto the next one, who stops his first assault with its blades. Sasuke and the slasher trade swipes for a moment, but Sasuke eventually gains the upper hand and slices the creature's body in half. He runs to the next one and jumps over it as it tries to slash him, taking off its head and slicing its back open as he falls. With a final slash to its right arm, the slasher finally falls. Sasuke stands and lets out a breath, then flicks his right hand out and takes off the arm of the crawling half-slasher that was headed his way, killing it.

Sakura, meanwhile, had procured a spool of wire and some explosive tags from a nearby store. She quickly set several traps around that would trigger by movement, then stood on a nearby rooftop and waited. Sure enough, a slasher appeared and ambled towards the fight, but stepped on one of the trip wires and was sent flying back by an explosion. Sakura smirked in triumph, but it was quickly wiped from her face when the necromorph stumbled into a standing position and began to run towards the square as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for it, it stepped on another trip wire that caused another explosion, and this one ripped off its arms and legs, finally killing it.

"Jeez, these things are really resilient," Sakura comments, running back to the road in order to lay more traps.

"Ha!" Naruto yells as he slices off a slasher's head and arms in one swipe. As the body falls, Naruto aims his Cutter at a slasher running towards him and takes off its legs before shooting off an arm, which kills it.

_'__Behind you!' _Naruto hears in his mind. He turns just in time to watch a necromorph jump from a nearby rooftop straight towards him like a missile.

"Kuso!" Naruto exclaims, jumping away before the thing hit him. The slasher slams into the ground and, unfortunately for it, its blades get stuck in the ground. Naruto raises his Cutter and is about to kill it when Anko suddenly appears and slices off both of its arms, finishing it off.

"Hey, gaki," Anko says, looking at Naruto with a smirk.

"Hey to you too, Miss crazy proctor lady," Naruto responds with a similar smirk.

Anko begins to sensually walk towards him while saying, "Why don't you call me by my name, hmm? It's not hard to say. Come on, repeat after me. An-ko. An-ko."

"Why don't you call _me_ by my name? It's not hard to say either," Naruto says as Anko walks around him. "Come on, say it. Na-ru-to. Na-ru-to."

"Touché, gaki," Anko admits, putting her arms around Naruto and pushing her breasts into his neck, although Naruto barely feels it due to the helmet. "You know, with that helmet and armour, you look positively _hot_. Almost enough to eat up…" Anko whispers into his ear, licking her lips.

"Anko-chan, as much as I may love that, now isn't the best time," Naruto says, raising his Cutter and killing two necromorphs that were stalking toward them.

"Oh, so it's Anko-chan, is it?" Anko says with an almost girlish giggle. "Glad to see you like me so much, gaki." Without another word, she uses Naruto's shoulders as leverage to swing her legs up and use two hidden kunai, one in each of her sandals, to slice apart a necromorph that was approaching them from behind. She finishes the manoeuvre by flipping over Naruto's form and landing directly in front of him, her chest merely an inch away from his visor. Naruto just barely manages to catch the sight of her areolas before the coat settles, but it's enough to make him blush.

"Unfortunately, you're right," Anko sighs, spinning a kunai around her index finger.

"Anko!" Ibiki calls out. "Stop flirting with Uzumaki and get back to the matter at hand!"

"I'm going, Ibiki, calm your shit!" Anko calls back. She turns to Naruto and winks at him, blowing him a kiss and saying, "Later, Naruto-_kun_," before jumping away.

Naruto stays rooted to the spot, not quite sure how to react to that.

_'__That is one sexy but crazy woman'_ Isaac says from inside his head.

"I couldn't agree more, Isaac," Naruto says as he gets back to the fight.

As Naruto continues to take out necromorph after necromorph, he doesn't notice that the other necromorphs around the square have stopped moving momentarily. The other fighters do, however, and some take the chance to kill the beasts while others also stop and wait to see what the heck is happening.

* * *

><p><em>Inside Naruto's mind, Isaac watches with worry as the Marker begins to spin again before letting off a shockwave that feels larger than the previous one.<em>

_"What the heck is going on?" Isaac asks aloud. Behind him, the Kyūbi also asks himself that question._

* * *

><p>Naruto manages to take down the slasher in front of him and turns to kill the next one, but is surprised when he sees every slasher has stopped in its tracks. Suddenly, a stab of pain goes through his head, making him grunt in discomfort. To his surprise, the slashers all turn, almost as one, and look directly at him with hate-filled eyes. With a unified roar, every single slasher begins to run toward him, blades flying.<p>

"Oh, fuckin' hell!"

* * *

><p>Hinata fires of a concentrated blast of force energy, which sends the slasher in front of her flying back, only for it to be stopped by Hanabi as she slices off the creature's limbs. Hanabi thinks quickly and grabs one of the slasher's blades with Kinesis, turns around, and fires it with perfect aim at another slasher, hitting it from the left and slicing its head and arms off in one slice.<p>

"Nice one, imouto," Hinata praises.

"Thanks, oneechan."

A roar from behind them makes them turn in time to witness a pair of slashers be ripped to pieces by the twin tornadoes that were Kiba and Akamaru. The Inuzuka pair didn't stop there, continuing their jutsu and ripping apart several more necromorphs. Shino, meanwhile, quickly entered a building to their left and sliced up a necromorph with a kunai just seconds before it killed a woman and her little girl. He helped them both exit then used his Kikaichu to carry them to safety before turning back to the group.

Suddenly, all of the necromorphs in their vicinity stopped moving, making the team tense as they waited for anything to happen. Moments later, every single necromorph turned toward the centre of Konoha and began to run and jump in that direction, leaving Team Eight standing there with confusion.

"Where are they all going?" Kiba asks.

"Beats me," Hanabi responds.

"We better keep searching for survivors," Hinata reasons, activating her Byakugan. To her surprise, the entire section they're in is clear of survivors. "Never mind, there's no one around left to rescue. Let's see where they're going!"

Together, the team takes to the rooftops and jumps after the horde of undead.

* * *

><p>"There's no end to them!" Ino shrieks as she takes off the arm of a necromorph nearby.<p>

"They have to stop sometime! Just keep killing them!" Shikamaru calls back, holding a group of slashers still while Choji used his **Nikudan Sensha **to flatten them.

Ino grunts and continues to jump around, using the two kunai Asuma had given her to protect herself. She dashes toward another slasher and uses the **Bunshin no Jutsu **to fool it while she gets behind it and slashes it apart. She wanted to hurl at the blood splatters, wanted to run away and wash herself of the grime... But she knew she couldn't. Her village, her entire life was in danger, and she needed to help her village combat this enemy!

Suddenly, as she was about to take the head off a slasher, it stopped moving. Ino froze as well, waiting for any tricks, but nothing happened.

"Shika, did you do something?" Ino asks out loud.

"No..." Shikamaru responds. His opponent had frozen as well, and he had no idea why.

"What's the matter with them?" Choji asks.

Ino suddenly senses a small shockwave pass by their location, although she isn't sure how she felt it. "Did either of you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Shikamaru and Choji ask simultaneously.

Before Ino can explain, the necromorphs in their vicinity suddenly turn to face the direction the shockwave came from. With a loud roar, the slashers jump away, in the direction the shockwave had come from.

"Ino, you alright?" Shikamaru asks, approaching his teammate.

"I... don't know," Ino says, hugging herself. "I just felt a small wave of thoughts pass by us... it felt just like what I felt earlier, when I tried the Mind Search Jutsu, only smaller. But I also sensed Naruto's thoughts intermingled... so I can only guess that the monsters are headed his way!"

"What?! He can't take them all on his own!" Choji cries out, already jumping towards where the necromorphs are headed.

"Choji, wait!" Shikamaru yells, but it falls on deaf ears. "Damnit. That moron is going to get himself killed! Come on, Ino! We have to go after him!"

"Right!"

Together, the Nara and Yamanaka heirs jump after their teammate and friend.

* * *

><p>"Damnit," Kakashi curses as he jumps away from a charging, dog-like necromorph. Seeing that it's missed, the necromorph runs back to its hiding place, where it stays. A loud screech from behind him makes Kakashi jump into the air, narrowly missing another that had tried to hit him from behind.<p>

"**Raikiri!**" Kakashi yells out, encasing his right hand in lightning. He quickly dashes to the ground and slices off its head. The creature stumbles after the loss of its head, then falls to the ground, dead.

"One down," Kakashi mutters. He looks around the clearing at the approaching and hiding necromorphs and sighs, "Several more to go."

Kakashi pulls out a kunai and prepares himself, but before he can attack, the necromorphs all freeze for a few seconds, then turn as one to a single direction and begin jumping away. Even the dog-like necromorphs, before so intent on Kakashi, turn and run in that direction as well.

"Kakashi-sempai," a voice calls out, it's owner landing next to him a moment later.

"Neko," Kakashi greets her. "What's happening?"

"We're not sure. The necromorphs in every sector have stopped battling our forces and are all headed in the direction of Konoha's central square."

"Have you been able to find out where they're headed?"

"Hai. It seems they are converging onto your student Naruto's position," Neko says with worry in her voice. As much as she hated the kid's pranks, she had grown to care for him in the time she watched him as a child.

"Naruto! No!" Kakashi yells out, immediately dashing towards his pupil's location, with Neko following.

* * *

><p>Naruto quickly jumps back, narrowly avoiding a slasher's blades, then turns and uses a kunai to slash off the limbs of a necromorph behind him. With quick precision, he brings up his Plasma Cutter and begins to take off limbs everywhere around him.<p>

"Where the hell are they coming from?" Naruto yells out to no one in particular as he continues to take out necromorph after necromorph. He had long ago run out of plasma energy, so now he was using his chakra to take out the enemies around him.

_'I think I have an idea' _Isaac says from inside his mind.

"What would that be?" Naruto asks as he seals away the Plasma Cutter and brings out the Pulse Rifle, quickly mowing down several necromorphs near him.

_'That pain in your head earlier happened at the same time that the Marker in here let out a shockwave. I think the Marker that has reanimated all of these bodies realises you have the ability to destroy it and wants to take you out before that can happen,' _Isaac explains.

"Got to admit, that makes a lot of sense," Naruto mutters.

As he takes out the nearest necromorph, Naruto reloads his weapons and prepares himself for the next onslaught.

* * *

><p>The two rookie Genin teams, along with Tenten and Gai of the latter's team, and a few Jōnin and Chūnin (Anko, Ibiki, Neko, and Kakashi amongst them) landed on nearby rooftops and watched in awe as Naruto fought the horde of undead bodies that were throwing themselves at him.<p>

"Come on, we have to help him!" Hinata exclaims, reloading her Javelin Gun and preparing to throw herself into the fray alongside Naruto.

"No."

That single word stopped most people dead, and they all turned together to see who had uttered them.

Standing behind the group were none other than the Grand Elders of Konoha's council: Koharu, Homura, and Danzo.

"What do you mean?! Naruto-kun's strong, but even he can't take on all of those necromorphs on his own!" Hinata exclaims at the elders, giving most people pause, as they had never heard the shy girl speak in such a manner.

"Our order is absolute, Hyūga. No one is to help Uzumaki," Danzo states coldly. "Anyone who does shall be punished severely."

Hinata, and many of the ninja around, could only stare in shock and disgust at the three elders.

* * *

><p>Naruto bent his knees, waiting and watching the crowd of necromorphs around him. One slasher decided to start things of and roared as it ran toward the blonde. Naruto narrowed his eyes and flicked his wrist, sending out two kunai that pierced through the beast's shoulders, killing it. This opened the floodgates, as the other slashers roared in unison and ran directly toward the blonde.<p>

From that point on, the battle was like clockwork for Naruto. Punch a slasher to push it back; jump over a slasher that tried to impale him from behind, land behind it, and slice off its arms and head; turn and use the thrusters of his left foot to deliver a roundhouse kick onto an incoming Stalker, sending it flying in to his right; use the Plasma Cutter on one hand and the Pulse Rifle in the other to take out several necromorphs around him; seal both weapons, bring out the Contact Beam, then jump high into the air, sending a ball of explosive chakra to the middle of the converging horde and blowing them to pieces; create several Kage Bunshin to help combat the necromorphs, although they were taken out after some time; use hand-to-hand combat and his suit's thrusters to outmanoeuvre the creatures, taking out several by simply kicking and punching them until their limbs snapped off...

But Naruto misjudged the size of the necromorph horde, and he soon found himself losing energy as the battle dragged on longer and longer. He had already received several injuries to his arms and legs, but they thankfully weren't fatal. The true issue was his energy, as his body was getting slower and weaker, and for every necromorph he took out, another took its place.

He wouldn't last for much longer.

* * *

><p><em>"Damnit," Isaac comments as he watches the battle drag on. "Naruto won't last much longer... why the hell isn't he getting any help?! There were a shitload of ninja fighting the necromorphs earlier!"<em>

**_"They were probably ordered not to help him,"_**_the Kyūbi comments offhandedly from behind him._

_"Why in the world would they do that? He's a Konoha ninja, isn't he?! I thought Konoha ninja helped each other out!"_

**_"Look closely at that," _**_Kyūbi points. Isaac turns and looks at the current image, one that shows the group of Konoha ninja on the rooftops around Naruto. __**"See those three near the back? The mummy-looking guy with the wrapped eye and the two old ones behind him? They're Konoha's 'Grand Elders' **__(this was said with a lot of sarcasm), __**and they've disliked Naruto ever since he was born, just because I was sealed inside him at birth."**_

_"What?! That's ridiculous! Why in the hell would they hate the kid for something out of his control?" Isaac yells out._

**_"Don't ask me. I just know they've hated him for quite a while, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones that instigated most of the mob chases and beatings that Naruto's had to endure."_**

_"Sons of bitches," Isaac mutters, turning back to the screen. "Come on, hang in there, kid..."_

* * *

><p>"You might hate Naruto for something he can't control..." Hinata mutters, drawing the attention of everyone around her. She lifts her head and looks directly at the Elders with a glare so strong they shift uncomfortably in place. "But no matter what you say, I <em>will <em>help Naruto-kun! He's been a loyal comrade and friend ever since he was young, and I'll be damned if I let him die because of your petty hate!"

"I'm with oneechan on that one," Hanabi states, walking up and standing next to Hinata as she reloads her Plasma Cutter.

"You can count me in as well," Sasuke states, walking up to stand on Hinata's other side. "If there's one thing Kakashi-sensei's taught us well, is that leaving your comrades to die for the sake of rules makes you lower than trash. And I refuse to let die the only other Genin I can best relate to just because of the Council."

"Count me in as well," Sakura states, standing next to Sasuke.

Danzo narrows his eyes at the young ninjas, saying in the same cold tone, "If you go, the consequences will be most dire."

Hinata reassembles her helmet and looks toward Naruto's fight. Just before she leaves, she imparts some final words.

"I'll take any consequence so long as by the end of the day, Naruto-kun is still with me."

With that, Hinata jumps directly into the fray, quickly followed by Hanabi, Sasuke and Sakura. Team Ten follow not to long after, followed by Tenten, Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Ibiki, and a few ANBU operatives.

Danzo shakes his head in disgust and mutters, "Fools..."

* * *

><p>When Naruto sees a stalker running full speed toward him, he knows he finally can't go on. He just barely managed to kill the previous necromorph by putting it in the path of another's blade, but that was more luck than skill, and that took the last amount of strength the boy had.<p>

The blonde yells in pain as he is sent to the ground by the stalker's head-butt. The force of the attack makes him roll a few times before he comes to rest on his back, eyes shut in pain. The dog-like creature moves over Naruto and reaches down to grab him, but Naruto's eyes snap open under his helmet and he weakly attempts to hit the creature on the side of the head with the kunai in his left hand. The stalker simply bats the hand back to the ground forcefully, leaving Naruto defenceless.

"No... No, no, no..." Naruto mutters with wide eyes, trying to move away from the necromorph, but to no avail. The stalker grabs his right arm in a vice grip and is just about to rip it off... when something crashes deftly onto it, making it lose its grip and sending it flying away.

Naruto is just barely able to look up and notice the white and red armour before his sight goes black, his last thought being, _'Hinata-chan... Thank you...'_

* * *

><p>"Drive them away! We can't let them get past us!" Hinata calls out, standing to Naruto's left. She had flown in just in time and slammed her boots directly into the stalker's side in order to push it away, and she was now pointing her Force Gun all around, sending any nearby necromorph to the ground with deft force blasts, which left them as easy pickings for the others.<p>

The ninja quickly formed a circle all around Naruto's prone form, pushing back all the necromorphs that came close. Sasuke and Sakura used team tactics to corral several necromorphs together and take them out with fire jutsu or explosive tags; Hanabi used a nearby rooftop as a vantage point to snipe any necromorph that came close, paying close attention to stalkers and killing them while they hid; Team Ten used their combination jutsu to flatten several of them; Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, Anko, and Ibiki worked together in order to mow down scores of the beasts; Tenten easily pushed them back, slicing any necromorph that approached to pieces with her hail of kunai, shuriken, and other weapons; Gai needed no weapons, as his taijutsu attacks were strong enough to snap off the necromorph limbs; and finally, the ANBU that had gone along used both Ninjutsu and kenjutsu to easily destroy enemy ranks.

The battle was an arduous one, but after some minutes of continuous necromorphs, the horde finally came to an end, with Hinata ending the last one by pushing it to the ground with a force blast and then shooting another blast at it at point-blank range, which split the creature apart.

Everyone panted in exertion after the fight, looking around to make sure that no more necromorphs would appear. Finally, the group relaxed, and Hinata and Hanabi quickly knelt by Naruto and began to heal his wounds while the rest of the ninja watched with worry.

"Is he going to be alright?" Ino was the first to break the silence.

"He'll be fine with some rest," Hinata states, finishing patching up Naruto's wounds while Hanabi administered a large health pack to Naruto's RIG, which the RIG's AutoDoc distributed to the necessary parts. "He has chakra exhaustion and his muscles were strained to the limit, plus I'm sure he also has some mental exhaustion as well. I think we'll just have to take him home and let him rest." The rest of the group nods and begins to spread off, with the Genin going home to shower and sleep while the Chūnin, Jōnin, and ANBU begin the clean-up of the village. Hinata decides to use one of Naruto's tricks and summons a single Kage Bunshin to help her carry Naruto to his place, which thankfully isn't too far away. However, just as Hinata, Hanabi, and the unconscious Naruto begin the trek to the blonde's apartment, their path is blocked by the Elders, who stand directly in the middle of their path, frowns on their faces.

"And where do you think you're going?" Danzo asks. "You should be written up and locked away for disobeying our orders."

"We're taking Naruto-kun home, as he needs rest," Hinata says simply, attempting to push past the trio. Danzo's hand on her shoulder stops her.

"Wrong. You will hand the jinchūriki over to me," the one-eyed man states.

Hinata turns and looks Danzo dead in the eye, pieces suddenly connecting in her brain. She finally says, with an icy voice, "No. As I said, taking Naruto-kun home to rest, as he's been through enough today and he needs _rest. _And don't you dare try and send your little pet soldier after him again, got it?" With that, Hinata forcefully throws of Danzo's hand and continues on her way, her little sister following. Danzo's glare follows her all the way to the corner, up until they turn and are lost from view.

"That girl will be trouble, I can already tell... I must get rid of her if I am to acquire the Kyūbi..."

* * *

><p>"Man, oneechan, that was insane. I would've peed my pants if he had been glaring at me with that much hate," Hanabi exclaims.<p>

Hinata slumps a little as she walks, Naruto hanging like a rag doll between them. "That took every bit of strength I had, imouto. But no matter how much they try, they'll never have Naruto-kun. Not while I'm still standing. Who knows what they would do to him? Could you imagine them turning Naruto-kun into one of those emotionless ninja that we had to fight in the forest?"

Hanabi's mind tries to bring up the image, and the result leaves a frown on her face. "I... No, I don't. I can't imagine Naruto-kun being an emotionless weapon for anybody."

"Exactly," Hinata says. "Naruto-kun's a carefree boy, one who treasures his friends above all others. For him to be turned into a weapon..."

The thought hangs around the heads of the two girls until they reach Naruto's apartment. Hinata quickly fishes out the spare key Naruto had given her during their training trip and opens the door, slowly bringing the boy in. They settle him on his bed and quickly peel off his suit, which is caked with blood and entrails. After hanging it to the side, the girls come to realise that the blood had seeped through the suit and had stained Naruto's inner clothes (a plain white shirt and froggy boxers) and his skin, which meant one thing.

They'd have to strip Naruto and wash it all off before they actually let him rest...

After several minutes of confused and embarrassed staring, Hanabi looks at Hinata's Kage Bunshin and snaps her fingers. "Oneechan, why not have your Kage Bunshin wash him? That way, neither of us has to actually do it."

Hinata was so relieved at Hanabi's idea that she didn't stop to think about it, she simply gave the clone its instructions and let it go. The girls worked together to set up some Detonator mines and trip-wires at key points of the apartment. Moments later, just as Hinata finished placing the final mine in such a way that it would be nearly impossible to cross, Hinata's clone came out of the steamy shower, supporting a now clean Naruto, who had a towel wrapped around his waist.

The clone's face was beet red and blood was coming out of its nostrils, and neither Hyūga needed to wonder why.

The clone went into the bedroom and dressed Naruto into some sleeping pants and a clean white shirt while the two girls stayed outside. After it had laid Naruto down on his bed, it called to the girls to come in, it's face still impossibly red.

"You know," Hanabi says once they come in, all three crowded around the bed, "now I wonder just what he looks like under those clothes."

"Hanabi!" Hinata exclaims, although oddly, Hinata's clone doesn't react the same way.

Instead, the clone points to its original and says in a calm voice, "Don't worry, she'll know in a moment," before dispelling.

A split second later, both girls remember a little fact Kakashi had told them, which had been overshadowed by their worry for Naruto and then the village: a Kage Bunshin's memories were transferred over to the original once it dispelled!

Hanabi had to spend the next few moments snapping her fingers in front of her sister's face, attempting to get her out of the haze that the mental sight of Naruto's actual naked body sent her into.

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked around from the roof of an apartment building, surveying the clean-up that was currently happening. Cleaning up the bodies of the invaders was thankfully easy, as all of them had been transformed into necromorphs, then taken out by the Konoha forces. Most of the body pieces were in a single place, the main square, so storing them was quick. The true issue was the state of the buildings around the gates. Due to the attacks of the invaders and Orochimaru's summons, many of the buildings were damaged, and some were completely left in ruin.<p>

He turned slightly when he felt a very small chakra spike. It didn't feel like much, but Kakashi had enough experience to know that this wasn't any small chakra use. No, this was the type of chakra spike of someone who wanted to keep his or her chakra low, minimal... hidden.

Without a word, Kakashi followed the small chakra spike, worry gnawing at his gut.

* * *

><p>Hinata sat at the edge of Naruto's bed, looking down, red faced. In front of her, Hanabi was laughing her ass off at her sister's earlier reaction.<p>

"Naruto must be quite something, huh, oneechan?" Hanabi asks her sister cheekily.

"Stop it, Hanabi..." Hinata moans, burying her face in her hands.

"'So big... so hot...' I just... ahahaha!"

Finally, Hanabi's laughter begins to wane, and Hinata is finally able to lift her face from her hands and face her sister without blushing too badly.

"Now, where will we-?"

That's as far as Hinata gets before an explosion from the room outside startles them both. Both Hyūga immediately stand and draw their weapons, walking slowly to the living room door. Hinata opens it and both girls point their weapons out, only to be surprised when they see Kakashi standing near a window, looking to the side in surprise. The girls follow his line of sight and smirk when they see the splattered remains of someone on the far wall, another Ne soldier if the broken mask on the floor is anything to go by.

"Serves the bastard right for trying to sneak in here," Hinata says with venom in her voice.

Kakashi looks at the girl, then at the new bucket art on the wall, then to the several trip-wires and Detonator mines carefully placed all around, then finally back to the girls, before he says in a deadpan voice, "I can assume a secure perimeter has been set."

"All secure here, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata assures.

"Well, just in case, I'm going to leave Pakkun and a few other guard dogs around. No telling if Danzo may try again," Kakashi says, biting his thumb and summoning several ninken. He quickly gives them their orders and they spread out to cover the apartment.

"Kakashi-san, if I may ask," Hanabi speaks up, "why does this Danzo want Naruto-kun so badly?"

Kakashi sighs and looks forlorn for a bit, thinking that it feels like he's getting quite old. "You may not know him very well, but I do. I was rather close to... Hokage-sama... while I was in the ANBU Black Ops. Danzo is a man who, unlike Hokage-sama, believes that the most important thing to have is power. Absolute power. From that belief sprouted another: he believes that the ninja he commands are nothing more than tools, like kunai or shuriken. He puts his soldiers through rigorous emotional training, and... Well, you've seen the result. In truth, he wants to make Konoha a superpower in the Elemental Nations. He wants to bring Konoha up, to make it the strongest. But the way he wants to do it is completely militaristic, something our Shodaime Hokage would never have wanted. He's been after the post of Hokage since he was a Jōnin, but he was constantly outscored by Hiruzen-sama. That was why he started his Ne program. And he wants Naruto for just that: power. He wants the power of the Kyūbi under his command."

Both girls shuddered at the explanation of Danzo. He certainly sounded like a man no one would like to cross. He probably had ways to make people disappear. But neither girl was scared, as they knew that Danzo, like any person, had his limitations and his weaknesses.

"He must be trying to capitalise on the fact that Hiruzen-sama is dead and that we have no Hokage to make his move on Naruto. I was there when Naruto's fate was decided after the Kyūbi attack. He immediately wanted to have Naruto grow up in his Ne army, but Hiruzen-sama shot him down. I believe he's been waiting for a long time for the chance to lay hands on our lovable knucklehead."

"Let him try. I'll rip him to pieces if he even gets close to Naruto-kun..." Hinata growls venomously, surprising both Kakashi and Hanabi, although the latter shared her sentiment completely.

"Well, I should get going. It seems like you've got everything under control here. Tell Naruto when he wakes up that Hiruzen-sama's funeral will be in three days' time. Ja ne." And with that, Kakashi was gone, right out the window he came through.

As the girls walked back inside the room, Hinata said, "As a matter of fact, that reminds me, where are we going to sleep? Should we go back home for a while, or...?"

Poor Hinata was forced to trail off as she turned and drank in the image of Hanabi in her undergarments (having stripped off her own suit and hung it next to Naruto's) lying next to Naruto on the boy's bed, happily cuddling one of his arms.

"Hanabi!" Hinata exclaims, red-faced.

"What?" Hanabi asks. "No way am I sleeping on the floor, and the bed is big enough for the three of us. Besides, I'm sure he won't mind!"

"T-the three of us?!"

"Yeah! What, did you expect me to force you sleep on the floor? No way! He still has one free arm, you know," Hanabi points out with a raised eyebrow and a suggestive smile.

Hinata mulls it over in her head, trying to find a good argument against her sister's words, but can't immediately think of one. So with a shrug, she strips off her suit, and is just about to jump onto the bed as well when she realises something.

"Wait a second... we're just as filthy as Naruto-kun was earlier. We should shower first!"

"Good idea," Hanabi says, letting go of Naruto's arm and sitting up. "Besides, a shower should help us relax anyways."

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Hinata laughs, already walking to the bathroom.

"Hey! Not fair!"

* * *

><p>"I cannot make contact with Fu... very well then, I guess this will be the only sure way..."<p>

The words dissipated into the wind as the old man walked away, his cane making quiet _toc _sounds every other step.

* * *

><p>Inside Naruto's apartment, the bathroom door quietly opens, letting out a large amount of steam. From inside, Hinata and Hanabi exit, chatting in low voices as they towel off their hair.<p>

"Sure was nice for Naruto to keep these on a visible rack," Hanabi says, tugging at the fluffy white towel wrapped around her body.

"He told me once that he kept them there in case of visitors, but he never actually got any," Hinata responds with sadness.

"Well, we're the first ever, so let's make it last," Hanabi says with conviction, to which Hinata nods.

"You know, I'm still a little surprised these things don't come off," Hinata says, pointing behind her at the health bar running from the nape of her neck to her lower back, just above her butt. "I was fairly sure it was going to electrocute me in the shower."

"I think these RIGs are common on the planet Isaac came from," Hanabi reasons. "Maybe not the suits we have, but the health bars have to be. So I guess they had to make it waterproof for people to use them almost all the time."

Both girls enter Naruto's room and quickly realise there's a problem: clothes. The garments they wore under their suits were dirty with blood and sweat, so that was a no-go.

"Why not borrow some of Naruto-kun's clothes?" Hanabi says when Hinata voices the problem.

"Come on, Hanabi. We've already taken a shower in his bathroom and plan to sleep in his bed," Hinata pleads.

"Oneechan, do you remember what Naruto-kun told us that day, when we had to fight that group of Ronin?" Hanabi asks suddenly.

Hinata, slightly startled by the change in subject, thinks back to that day...

* * *

><p><span><em>The trio of Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi were currently sitting next to a lake, chatting happily while trying to catch some fish.<em>

_"So, as soon as I let go of the string, the pack of balloons just fly like missiles, splattering against Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-teme! Oh Kami, the looks on their faces! I swear, I got the most exercise that day from running away from the pink and purple teachers!"_

_The three of them dissolve into gales of laughter, which takes a while to abate. Suddenly, however, Naruto stops laughing and stands up, assembling his helmet and pointing his Plasma Cutter at the trees behind them, saying, "Come on out! I know you're in there!"_

_The girls quickly copy his actions, finishing just as a group of smirking men and one woman walk out of the trees. They were a total of seven, and their size, armour, and weaponry told the young ones they were most likely rogue samurai, also known as Ronin. Hinata and Hanabi surreptitiously activate their Byakugan, and to their shock, they see several chained women farther into the trees._

_"Can we help you?" Naruto asks politely._

_"Yeah, you can help us, kid," the biggest guy, presumably the leader, says in a rough, cocky voice. "You can start helping us by dropping all your cash, weapons, and anything of value, including that shiny armour, before things have to get..." The man puts a hand on the sword at his waist and finishes by saying, "... ugly."_

_"Yeah, see, about that," Naruto says mockingly, lifting his Plasma Cutter higher and aiming it directly at the man who spoke, "We're gonna have to decline your offer."_

_"Besides, we won't deal with bandits who capture women and keep them as slaves," Hinata growls, lifting her Javelin Gun._

_"They what?!" Naruto exclaims, almost firing a plasma shot right there and then._

_"Psh, you kids wouldn't understand. When a man's got to fuck, he's got to fuck, and why bother going to a brothel when there's several women all around?" the big man says with a sneer. The three kids silently notice that the only female in the group, a redhead with glasses who looks to be no more than fifteen at the most, give the big guy a withering glare before she looks back to the trio._

_"You're sick..." Naruto mutters. "No more negotiating. I'm taking you out right fucking now!"_

_The big man laughs in a condescending tone at Naruto's words. "And just how do you plan to do-," and that's as far as he gets before Naruto's plasma bolt slices through his neck, completely decapitating him._

_"Boss!" One lanky ronin yells, looking at the man's headless body with shock, then to Naruto with anger. "You just killed our leader, kid! Now you're gonna get it!"_

_With a unified yell, the ronin jump forward as a group toward the deceptively weak kids. Hinata takes the forefront and runs toward the group, smirking under her helmet. She pulls out her Force Gun and aims it at the very middle of the group, then waits until they're close before firing a wide blast, which reverses the group's momentum with a jolt. The ronin scream as they're thrown back into the forest, with two of them hitting trees headfirst, their necks snapping like twigs under a child's boot._

_With just five left alive, the trio splits up, Hinata running to where the girl of the ronin group had fallen, Hanabi jumping into the trees in order to track two of the ronin that had survived as well as to find the chained women, and Naruto taking off to take on the remaining two ronin._

_Hinata easily finds the girl, who is just getting up after rolling a few yards. The redhead quickly stands and takes out a standard, battered katana, which she holds with both hands in front of her._

_"You picked the wrong group to piss off, tiny," the girl says, the small shaking in it unmistakable._

_"Please, miss," Hinata said politely, sealing away her Force Gun to show her she meant no harm, "I don't wish to fight you. I could see that you didn't like the guy that Naruto-kun killed. I want to understand why, though. Why are you with these men- no, these monsters?"_

_The girl's hands shake slightly, making the katana waver. After a few minutes of staring at the armoured girl in front of her, the redhead finally responds. "They stormed the base I was stationed in one day. I had sensed them coming, but the other guards were sure that they could take on the group. Well... they killed half of them before they were overwhelmed... and the group saw that I had some ninja training, so they gave me an ultimatum: join them, or become a slave myself. Obviously, I chose the former."_

_"You're a sensor?" Hinata asks with surprise._

_The girl nods. "I'm a pretty gifted sensor. I was able to sense the group coming from a few miles away, but couldn't do anything to prevent them reaching the base."_

_"So that's how you found us," Hinata says in realisation, to which the girl nods._

_"__No way was I going to become a slave for them, but I knew I wasn't strong enough to kill them, so I joined their group… I still don't know if I made the right choice," the girl admits._

_ "__So why stay with them? Why not run away?" Hinata asks._

_"__I couldn't. The big guy was always making someone guard me to make sure I didn't escape, unfortunately."_

_"__But he's dead now, and I'm pretty sure that my imouto and Naruto-kun are strong enough to take out the rest of those guys," Hinata points out._

_The girl remains still, looking at Hinata as if trying to figure out a puzzle. Hinata remains quiet, letting the girl have her moment. Finally, she says, "What's your name, kid?"_

_"__Hinata. Hinata Hyūga." _

_"__Huh… that blondie with you, is he a Hyūga too?"_

_"__Naruto-kun? No, not at all. He's an Uzumaki."_

_This little piece of info makes the girl's eyes widen exponentially, and the katana suddenly falls from her hands. Hinata, understandably startled by the change in demeanour, waits until the girl regains her bearings._

_When she does, the girl simply asks, "A… are you sure he's an… Uzumaki?"_

_"__Fairly sure, yes. He's apparently named so after his mother."_

_The girl stays quiet for a moment before she whispers, almost inaudibly, "So… I'm not alone…"_

_"__What do you mean?" Hinata asks._

_"__I'm not alone…" the girl repeats. "I'm not the only Uzumaki!"_

_"__You're an Uzumaki too?" Hinata asks in shock._

_"__Yes! Oh my Kami, you have no idea how long I've searched for any possible relatives of mine!" the girl says happily._

_"__Okay… we definitely have to talk," Hinata says, walking closer to the girl._

_"__Yeah, you need to tell me about him! Naruto, was it?"_

_"__Yep. Before anything else, however… what's your name?" Hinata asks._

_"__Karin. Karin Uzumaki. Pleasure to meet ya, although not in the best of circumstances."_

_The girls talked for a decent amount of time, Karin explaining to Hinata about her parents dying when her small village was razed by a large group of bandits, and her being found by Orochimaru. She explained that she spent many years under Orochimaru's care, and soon became the head Security Guard in one of his bases due to her unrivalled sensory ability. Hinata, in turn, explained about her mostly sheltered upbringing in Konoha, being constantly belittled by her father and set to fight her sister on multiple times. She capped off with Naruto asking for her to accompany him on his training trip and her sister coming along, although she withheld the information about how they got their armour and weapons. _

_A mere moment after she had finished explaining her father's reaction to Hanabi's actions, to which Karin cracked up in laughter, Naruto and Hanabi appeared, each carrying one woman over their shoulders. The women were scrawny girls, hardly older than Karin, and most definitely underfed and tortured. _

_"__Alright, we're… done?" Naruto said, raising an eyebrow under his visor. "Seems like you've made a friend, Hinata-chan."_

_"__Oh my…" Karin breathed, standing up slowly, her eyes foggy. "I didn't focus on it earlier, but I can definitely sense it now…"_

_"__Sense what?" Naruto asked, perplexed._

_"__C-could you… take off your helmet?" Karin asked, almost timidly._

_"__Sure…" Naruto responded, setting the women he was carrying down, their backs against a tree, before retracting his helmet. Naruto's face came into view, his dark blue eyes curious about Karin._

_Karin, meanwhile, slowly walked up to Naruto, almost as if in a trance. To the surprise of Naruto and Hanabi, the redhead suddenly jumped forward and hugged Naruto tightly, crying uncontrollably. Naruto by this point was severely confused and could only pat Karin on the back awkwardly, looking over her shoulder at Hinata with questioning eyes. Hinata said nothing and simply smiled in their direction. Hanabi decided to follow her sister's decision and simply watched the unfolding scene._

_Some minutes later, Karin finally brought her crying under control, and pulled back to look at the younger Uzumaki in the face. Naruto could only stare back at her in confusion, not understanding anything that was going on._

_"__I can't believe it… I just can't believe it!"_

_"__Can't believe what?" Naruto asked, perplexed. "What's going on with you?"_

_"__You… and me… you're my relative!" Karin revealed with happiness._

_Naruto's eyes widened, staring at Karin with surprise and a slight amount of hope. His mouth opened and closed for a few moments before he finally said, "Relative…? I… You…"_

_"__Yes…" Karin breathed, nodding. "You and I are from the same clan. Oh, silly me, where are my manners? My name is Karin. Karin Uzumaki!"_

_Naruto's eyes widened further at the mention of Karin's surname, and to the surprise of the girls, he fell to his knees, his head hanging down. His body began to shake slightly, almost as if he was…_

_"__Naruto-kun?" Hinata asks timidly, wondering why he was crying. To her surprise, however, he suddenly looks up, his eyes filled with tears but his mouth split in a wide grin. _

_"__I have a family! I have relatives!" Naruto exclaims, standing up suddenly and grabbing Karin into a hug, which she happily reciprocates. Naruto suddenly picks Karin up, despite the fact that she's two years his senior and a few inches taller than him, and swung her around in a circle, laughing happily all the while. After about two circles, he sets her down and they both fall to their knees, chuckling together. _

_Hanabi and Hinata watch the scene with misty eyes. They couldn't know what either Naruto or Karin were feeling, having been surrounded by clan members and relatives their entire lives, but the happiness radiating from the two was palpable. Both girls were ecstatic that their love interest had found someone of his clan, someone he could relate to in blood. _

_Karin went with them for a few days, sticking around Naruto as much as possible and trading stories with him. She told him what she knew about their homeland, which was only a little more than what he knew. They explained about their respective childhoods and what friends they had made, and compared their abilities. Naruto was bummed out about the fact that he didn't receive any cool sensory ability, but Karin brought his spirit back up by telling him that she had only unlocked it because the bandits that were going to raze the town she lived in were a strong threat to her, so it was simply possible that he hadn't yet unlocked it. _

_Finally, after the fourth day of travelling, Karin chose a path of action._

_"__Alright, guys," Karin said as she sat down by the campfire, "I've decided I'm going back to Orochimaru's lab."_

_That stopped all conversation around her. Naruto, understandably, didn't take that well. _

_"__You're… not coming to Konoha with us?" Naruto asked her, hurt._

_"__I can't. Not yet," Karin shook her head. "There are some things I have to take care of there, but I promise that as soon as I'm done there, I'll come to Konoha and find you guys. You said your Hokage was a very nice guy, so I'm sure he will let me stay."_

_"__Of course jiji will let you stay," Naruto exclaims, pumping his fist in the air._

_"__See? No worries on that front! I promise I'll keep in contact, alright?" Karin said, and the three of them agreed._

_The next morning, as the sun rose, the foursome stood on a small cliff overlooking a forest._

_"__I'll be going, then," Karin said, walking up to Naruto and hugging him tightly. "You take care of yourself, alright?"_

_"__I should be saying that to you," Naruto responds, hugging her back fiercely. "I want to hear from you often –ttebayo." Hanabi and Hinata were surprised that Naruto's verbal tick had made a reappearance. _

_"__I will, I promise," Karin said, kissing his cheek and pulling back, then hugging the two Hyūga as well. With a final wave, the girl jumps off the cliff and takes to the trees below, leaping with grace from branch to branch._

_The Konoha trio watch her form get farther and farther, until they could see her no more. Naruto was the first to turn and begin walking away from the cliff, back into the forest. A wan smile was on his face, which made the two Hyūga smile in return._

_"__I'm so happy for you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "You finally have someone to truly call family."_

_Naruto stops and listens to her words for a moment before turning and facing the two girls. With the same smile, he says, "That may be true, but Karin isn't the only family I have. You two are as much my family as she is, and I promise you, no matter what happens, I will always be there for you. Always."_

_"__Always," Hanabi repeats, walking closer and pulling Naruto into a hug._

_"__Always," Hinata repeats as well, hugging Naruto from behind. _

_"__I mean it. If you ever need anything, whether its help with something or a place to stay, I will always be here for you, understand?"_

_"__We get it, Naruto-kun, calm down," Hanabi says with a smirk._

_"__Just making sure," Naruto smiles._

* * *

><p>"I remember," Hinata says to her sister.<p>

"Good. Now, I'm sure he won't mind us using some of his clothes to sleep with, so put something on and quit whining," Hanabi says with a smirk, already pulling on one of Naruto's plain white shirts over her head, which covers her widely due to Naruto's bigger build.

"Oh, alright, fine," Hinata submits, finding a shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep with as well. Finally, after both girls are sufficiently clothed, they climb onto the bed with Naruto and lay at either side of him, grabbing each of his arms.

"Goodnight, oneechan," Hanabi says.

"It's four in the afternoon, imouto," Hinata reminds her, her eyes still closed.

"... Whatever."

"Nighty night to you too."


End file.
